Embracing the past

Spanish studio CaSA has teamed up with Margherita Serboli to refurbish a flat in an art nouveau building of the Exixample district of Barcelona to become the holiday apartment for an Italian family.

The client’s brief was to have three double bedrooms and a home that would highlight and underline the early 1900 detailing of the building, through a design that using a contemporary language. For this purpose some of the original features have been rescued, like the original windows woodwork, or the Catalan vaults, previously hidden behind a false ceiling now expose their original terracotta finish, typical of the building’s period.

For the same reason it was decided to intervene reinterpreting one of the most characteristic elements of art nouveau apartments in Barcelona – the floors by re introducing hydraulic tiles which represents a typical element of this kind of early twentieth century dwelling. The palette of materials and colours creates a dialogue that is playful with a definite Mediterranean-inspired atmosphere.