b-ing Architecture
Budget Raval
Architect: Eva Cotman
This project sets out to alter and improve an apartment located in the Raval, within the Ciutat Vella district of Barcelona which has undergone radical changes over recent years with an influx of new residents, offering diverse cultural and nightlife activity. The clients are a young couple with a very active social life, enjoying fully all the activities that the Raval has to offer. In defining the new spaces much attention has been given to maximize the available daylight and define the visual interrelationships between the different parts of the house, each with its own identity. The aim was to create maximum diversity within a small space.
The project budget was very limited as was the construction time, the architect’s solution was to work with the found materials reconfiguring the 40 sq.m. shell. The heart of the new layout is centered around the library (a bespoke furniture/fitting item), which separates the dining room from the built-in closet and, at the same time, joins the kitchen, dining room and the living room; it is an all-in-one element: staircase, bookshelf, closet and bench. The staircase leads to the small gallery located on the top of the closet, accommodates a guest bedroom. This gallery also helps to access the storage, which is located above the kitchen and the entrance area. It is a compact apartment with multifunctional elements to provide flexibility and adaptability to different needs, in other words, a ‘mini-space’ with a ‘maxi-functionality’.
- Eva Cotman Architect
- Photographs / Fotografías: Eva Cotman, Maria Ceballos
- www.evacotman.com