Architect Carles Enrich has converted an old dry-cleaning shop between two adjoining buildings in the Gracia district of Barcelona, Spain into a home-studio for a young family. The refurbishment was a fantastic opportunity to rethink the use of an unused place and optimize the conditions. The architect proposed a system to enable the inhabitants to live in an single 1,560 square foot (145 square meters) space arranged around an outdoor patio, where the bathroom is the only enclosed space. All activities take place in a single room with visual connection to the patio. To achieve this, all the partitions that enclosed small rooms with no natural light or ventilation were removed and the openings were extended to the exterior.

The original materials used in the party walls were recovered, as the brick ceiling joists and wooden beams. The pavement is solved with a continuous tinted concrete paving and the Flanders pinewood was introduced in a second phase of reform due to the growing of the family. The lower excavation enables the incorporation of a loft made of metallic beams and a 3 centimeters wood board, which works as an independent living area inside another bigger area, without being never enclosed room. 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.

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.

Photos: Enric Fabre, Courtesy of Carles Enrich