Poble Sec Apartment Renovation / estudio CO-A

Curated by Agustina Coulleri

Read the original version in Spanish here.

Architects: estudio CO-A
Area: 95 m²
Manufacturers: FARO Barcelona, Ceràmica Cumella, Marset, Pilma, QUICK-STEP

Poble Sec Apartment Renovation / estudio CO-A - Interior Photography, Kitchen

Text description provided by the architects. The commission is located on the main floor of an 1870 building in the popular Poble Sec neighborhood of Barcelona. It was a home with little natural light, featuring a large terrace on the rear facade, and had undergone several renovations over time. The multiple overlapping layers of finishes obscured the pre-existing elements of traditional Catalan architecture of the period. Therefore, to analyze the original shell of the home and its characteristics, we began with a selective demolition of all these cladding layers and installations to reveal the original constructive elements. We uncovered a highly compartmentalized space with high ceilings, few openings to the exterior (as the building lacks ventilation courtyards), and very characteristic constructive elements of the time and place: interior load-bearing brick walls, timber beam ceilings with ceramic vaults, and large arches on the rear facade.