Rethinking the unused space between party walls in the Gracia district court, Barcelona based architect Carles Enrich has designed a home-studio optimizing the conditions of an old dry-cleaning shop.
The system enables the inhabitants to live in a single space arranged around the patio, where the bathroom is the only enclosed space. All activities take place in a single room with visual contact with the patio. To achieve this, all the partitions were removed and the openings were extended to the exterior.
This small loft is meant to be more like a suspended furniture than a room. A furniture-closet, used by both sides, is the only separation between different spaces and converts the hallway into a dressing corridor.
The brick ceilings joists and wooden beams are the original materials of the space. The pavement is solved with a continuous tinted concrete paving, where the Flanders pinewood was introduced due to the growing family and second phase of the transformation.
The lower excavation enables the incoporation of a loft made of metalic beams and a 3 cm. wood board, which works as an independent living area inside another bigger area, without being never enclosed room.
An old storage room at the back of the plot is converted into a satellite studio that operates independently from the main space. This fragmentation of the program makes the patio an intermediate space that can be used as an outdoor room most part of the year.
A pergola made of metal beams and a cane network provides privacy and climate control. The progressive growth of plants and trees generate a natural environment within the dense urban area.
Richelle Sibolboro 