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Architects: Meta-studio
- Area: 110 m²
- Year: 2014
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Photographs:Lluis Carbonell , Aitor Estevez
Text description provided by the architects. When we entered for the first time in the former textile Grober factory, located in the District of Gràcia in Barcelona, completely empty, but so full of history, we felt the total freedom that gave us the space to be able to project any home we could imagine.
One of our requirements was to keep the diaphanous and open character, without giving up more domestic space and maintaining a certain intimacy. That is why we created a fully open living area, enjoying the advantages that a loft space offers: great heights, visual connections to the entire space anda large perspective. But at the same time, we created a night area, consisting of two bedrooms and a main bathroom, bounded by the mezzanine and separated by a library.
In this way, the first floor is configured with a living area formed by a living room, dining area and the kitchen. The mezzanine is visually connected with the space below, it is composed by an office, a bathroom, and a second living room that turns into a guest bedroom if necessary.
A new stairway from the mezzanine connects to the roof terrace, taking advantage of the old hollow forklift.
To preserve the square proportion (8,40 x 8,60 m) of the plan we decided to keep the mezzanine open (without balustrade), preserving the visual connections from one area to another. One step was built all along, which not only allowed us to save the difference of height but create a new space to sit in and contemplate the whole loft to establish a dialogue between both spaces.
One of the main challenges of the mezzanine was how to save height below the metal trusses to pass from one side to another without having to place two ladders. Thus we decided to create a mobile staircase sliding through a guide all along the library, giving access to any part of the mezzanine.
In terms of materials, the project aims to preserve a neutral character that allow us to highlight especially the original ones. Large windows, timber and metal trusses are strong elements, so we had to choose new materials like if they had always been there: wood (flooring of ground floor in natural Oak, birchslats for the mezzanine and furniture) and metal (U-shaped sockets , staircase, legs for the dining table, etc.). Everything according to the aesthetics of the place.
Materials and furniture define the different rooms without having to use partitions: a library all along the mezzanine dividing night and day areas, a bar extension from the worktop separating visually kitchen and living room. To distinguish the dining room we used hydraulic mosaic tiles, giving a character of the typical apartment from the 19th century of Barcelona, with geometric and neutral tones.
The furniture was designed especially for the project using stone, wood and iron. The dining table in the center is made using white Macael marble, which is very typical in the bars of Barcelona yet upgraded from a wooden base that rests on legs of iron.
