A refined yet simple city duplex

In Barcelona, an empty attic converted into a bright home with spacious terraces. The architects of The Room Studio have found the perfect balance between warm colours, materials and natural fabrics

The attic, spread over two floors, was the ideal solution to meet the needs of a large family whilst soaking up the charm of one of Barcelona’s most exclusive dis-tricts. In an interview with Ville & Casali, the interior designer Meritxell Ribé and the architect Josep Puigdomènech, founders of the Spanish company The Room Stu-dio and managers of the restoration project (www.theroom-studio.com), recounted how, “the owners instantly fell in love with the amazing terraces, whose potential had up to then been overlooked. We used them to create little green oases of calm in which to relax and enjoy the evening sun”. “These spaces have become the fam-ily’s favourite places to meet and spend time together”. The terraces have been imagined as an extension of the rooms they emerge from. Of all the rooms, perhaps the most spectacular is the bespoke kitchen. A large glass wall with iron profiles connects the inside with the outside, creating a practi-cal breakfast corner delightfully illuminated by the

morning light. The green of the lush vegetation perfectly complements the fresh and vibrant col-our palette chosen for the previously dull interior that had been lacking in any per-sonality. The studio’s design concept went in two directions. Firstly, the design looked to make the most of the natural light by locating the living room on the sun-niest side of the building. Secondly, the designers wanted to create a dialogue be-tween each room by a harmonious balance of tones, materials and fabrics. “We opted for warm hues and natural woods interspersed with marble and iron”, ex-plains the architect Josep Puigdomènech. The result is a wonderful blend of sim-plicity and refinement.