David’s Attic in Barcelona features an abundance of built-in furniture and storage elements made from matte-finish MDF, and carefully-positioned mirrors to make the home appear more spacious. Located in the city’s La Bordeta neighbourhood, the refurbishment has been completed by local architecture practice .
“As we entered the original flat, we felt disappointed with the 1970’s configuration of the 70-square-metre interior,” explains the design team. “What a shame that the terrace was not connected to the living room!” they noted. The original apartment had a long corridor and an adjoining row of small, dark rooms that weren’t taking advantage of sunlight from the outdoor terrace. “Our main goal was to extend the home without losing any rooms.”
To optimise the available space, conventional limits had to be diffused. MH.AP Studio consider typical hallways a waste of space if they achieve nothing more than getting us from A to B. The apartment’s new layout sees the hallway transformed into a multifunctional zone that accommodates a kitchen and wardrobes on one side, and a 60-centimetre-deep desk, dressing table and bench seat on the other.
At the end of the corridor, a large open-plan living and dining room is revealed. Spanning the entire width of the flat, the area looks out onto the terrace which is accessed through sliding glass doors. Here, a low, L-shaped sofa with bright blue cushions wraps the corner of the room. It’s built into a wall of shelving which displays artworks and decorative objects.
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Two bedrooms and a bathroom are located in rooms along the corridor and accessed through doors that match the joinery. The bathroom, which is accessed via the corridor and the master bedroom, is clad in grass-green tiles that contrast the apartment’s otherwise brown surfaces.
The sink is placed outside the bathroom in the hallway, a feature that was inspired by a sink in the hall of Le Corbusier’s famed Villa Savoye. “Although the sink in Villa Savoye is a device that is placed in the entrance lobby for hygienic reasons, what we enjoy about this fact is not its functional reason — but the displacement of a domestic element in an unexpected space,” said the designers.
The selected colour palette seeks to create an enveloping, warm feel that enhances different psychological sensations – from the entrance, where shadows are embraced, to the living, where natural light explodes. The architects chose to work with untreated, raw materials that would naturally age over time, also a cost-effective approach that responds to the limited budget. ‘Industrial’ oak parquet was used for the floors, while the kitchen countertops and the hallway sink are crafted from a custom terrazzo by Huguet Mallorca. Several mirrors have also been inserted throughout the apartment to make living spaces appear larger and bounce natural light into the dark corridor. A reflective panel in the bathroom additionally helps conceal the shower.
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