Casa Valérie

Apartment Renovation in Eixample, Barcelona

This renovation reinterprets a typical Eixample apartment while preserving the architectural features that define its identity. The original dwelling followed the characteristic linear organization of Barcelona’s historic residential buildings, with five bedrooms distributed along a central corridor, the living room facing the street, and the service spaces located towards the interior courtyard.

The intervention restores and highlights the apartment’s historic elements, including the hydraulic tile floors, ornamental plaster mouldings, original joinery, and Catalan vaulted ceilings, which were carefully reinforced and preserved. Existing hydraulic tile carpets were retained and used to define the different domestic functions, establishing a dialogue between the original fabric of the apartment and the new intervention.

The project is structured around a freestanding central volume that reorganizes the apartment without interrupting the perception of its original spatial continuity. Detached from the ceiling and reduced in height along the entrance sequence, this element allows the vaulted ceilings to remain visible while bringing light and visual connections deep into the interior. Conceived as an architectural element rather than a conventional partition, it defines the boundary between public and private areas while preserving openness and spatial flow throughout the apartment.

The original five-bedroom layout is transformed into a more generous three-bedroom home, including a flexible study and guest room. Complementary built-in furniture and shelving extend through the adjacent rooms, creating a coherent spatial language and providing integrated storage throughout the apartment.

The living spaces are relocated to the quieter courtyard side of the building, where the kitchen, dining room, and living area are combined into a single open-plan environment. Extending along the corridor, the kitchen establishes a continuous relationship with the living spaces through a central island and custom-built furniture, creating a fluid sequence of rooms that balances contemporary living with the character of the existing apartment.

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