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      Four-storey spiral staircase forms focal point of BSP20 House in Barcelona

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      A towering spiral staircase and a golden kitchen are some of the features that Raúl Sánchez Architects has introduced in its renovation of this townhouse in Barcelona’s Borne neighbourhood.

      BSP20 House has been in the making since 2013, when Raúl Sánchez Architects was approached by the building’s owners to turn it into a live-work space where they could stay during visits to the city.
      A white spiral staircase rises up from the ground floorHowever, due to regulatory issues, construction works didn’t begin for another seven years. During this period the already dilapidated building fell into further ruin, and at one point was even used as a squat.
      When the renovation finally got underway in August 2020, Raúl Sánchez Architects decided to completely gut the building, only leaving behind the four exterior walls and roof.
      This level of the home also features a brass kitchen suiteAs a result, three new floor levels have been inserted, each installed in such a way so that they don’t touch the building’s front or rear facades.

      Some of the resulting gaps have been filled with panes of glass, allowing residents to steal glimpses of different levels of the home.
      The staircase grants access to each of the home’s four levelsA huge void on the right side of BSP20’s interior now accommodates a white spiral staircase that winds up through the ground, first, second and third floors, all the way to the decked terrace on top of the building.
      Positioned directly above the stairs is a glazed opening that lets natural light filter deep into the plan.
      Rooms have largely been left empty so they can be used for different purposesSeeing the building in such a bare state at the beginning of the renovation process encouraged Raul Sanchez Architects to keep its rough, time-worn brick walls.
      “Those four walls, over 15 metres high, are a museum of the building’s history, where any trace of its construction, and of its use, will be left unaltered, exposed in all its crudeness,” said the studio.
      Raúl Sánchez Architects has preserved the building’s original brick wallsA similarly hands-off approach has been taken with the rest of the interior; most rooms have been largely left without fixtures and fittings so that, if necessary, they can be used for different purposes in the future.
      On the ground floor there is a kitchen, its cabinetry crafted from lustrous brass.
      “In terms of materiality, a certain refinement has been pursued in the new elements to be implemented, in opposition to the crude expressiveness of the existing walls, conscious that the space must house a home,” explained the studio.
      Natural light seeps in from a glazed opening above the staircaseOn the second floor there is only a bathroom lined with cream-coloured lacquered wood, finished with gold-tone hardware.
      The electrics, air-conditioning system and telephone wires have also been concealed within six steel tubes that run upwards through the home.
      Pale lacquered wood lines surfaces in the bathroomWhen it came to restoring BSP20’s facade, the practice had to follow strict heritage guidelines – but it was granted more freedom in the appearance of the front door.
      It’s now clad with three different types of aluminium, and features a graphic rhomboidal design that nods to the patterned hydraulic floor tiles seen inside the house.
      The home was given a new geometric-print front doorRaúl Sánchez Architects has completed several residential projects in its home city of Barcelona.
      Others include The Magic Box Apartment, which features a huge gold wardrobe, and Atic Aribau, which has bright, stripped-back interiors.
      Photography is by José Hevia.
      Project credits:
      Architecture: Raúl SánchezArchitecture team: Valentina Barberio, Paolo BurattiniStructure consultant: Diagonal ArquitecturaEngineering: Marés Ingenieros

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      Takk founders build all-white “igloo” bedroom for their young daughter

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      Furry white fabric lines the interior of this winter-themed kid’s bedroom, which Mireia Luzárraga and Alejandro Muiño of Spanish studio Takk have constructed inside their home in Barcelona.

      Affectionately titled Winter Bedroom (for a Big Grrl), the self-contained structure was designed as a hideaway for the couple’s young daughter.
      It takes the shape of a 3.5-metre-high dome that tapers off into a narrow entrance on one side, resembling an igloo.
      Takk’s founders have built an igloo-shaped bedroom for their daughterThe project forms part of Takk’s ongoing and continuous renovation of the warehouse space where its founders both live and build their large-scale architectural works.
      “The house-workshop is a 400-square-metre space that can host the installations that we design and produce,” Luzárraga told Dezeen.

      “At the same time, the space is being colonised by some domestic spaces that condition it for living. It’s continuously changing depending on the work that we are developing. Some of the pieces stay forever, and some of them are temporary.”
      The interior is covered almost entirely in a fluffy white carpetMost of the materials used to form the Winter Bedroom are repurposed from Takk’s previous projects, including the steel-chain curtain that covers the entrance in lieu of a door and the three layers of foam that line the dome’s ceiling and its entire exterior.
      Set on top of a wooden structure of vertical and horizontal ribs, the foam sheets serve seral purposes. For one, they maintain the all-white palette of the sleeping quarters and provide extra warmth in the industrial warehouse, which has plenty of space and light but little insulation.

      Takk perches communal bedroom on stilts in Madrid apartment renovation

      Unlike traditional cladding or wall panelling, the foam also moulds easily to the dome’s rounded form.
      “The flexible condition of the material easily adapts to the igloo shape,” explained Muiño, who founded Takk together with Luzárraga shortly after the couple met in 2008.
      Spherical lights are fitted to the domed ceilingInside the bedroom, a snowy carpet covers not just the floor but also the walls and the raised platform that holds up the bed.
      “The interior space has a floor at a height of 90 centimetres where the mattress lies, all covered in a white furry carpet ready to be enjoyed barefoot,” Muiño said. “Below this big bed, there is a space for storing, playing or hiding.”
      Spherical lights integrated into the ceiling form what the studio describes as “a sky of bulbs”, designed to create the impression of looking up at the stars.
      The self-contained bedroom is set in a converted warehouseTakk recently constructed another self-contained bedroom as part of an apartment renovation in Madrid, where the communal sleeping quarters are perched on stilts.
      For more creative kids’ bedrooms, see our lookbook of ten contemporary children’s bedrooms.

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      Cara Mela by Casa Antillón is a dual-colour pastry shop in Madrid

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      Two rooms – one white and one green – make up this striking colour-block pastry shop that architecture and interiors studio Casa Antillón has completed in Madrid.

      The layout of Cara Mela naturally lends itself to having distinctly different coloured rooms, according to local studio Casa Antillón.
      Cara Mela’s first room is finished completely in white”From the beginning, we had a vision of a spatial cascade of rooms separated by colour-contrasted openings on the walls,” the studio told Dezeen.
      “It was very suitable with the architecture of the existing building, since the floor goes down from the entrance to the back of the shop.”
      A stainless steel unit accommodates different functional elementsUpon entering the pastry shop, which is located in Madrid’s Chamberi neighbourhood, customers are welcomed into an all-white room.

      The space is dominated by an angular stainless steel unit, incorporating a high counter where customers can stand and eat, a handwashing station and a glass display case that shows off Cara Mela’s sweet treats.
      The back room features sea-green surfacesThis front room narrows slightly before opening up to reveal a seating area at the back of the shop. Casa Antillón nicknamed the two spaces after the different phases of a heartbeat – systole and diastole.
      “Systole and diastole are the heart’s movements of contraction and expansion,” explained the studio. “For us, it refers to this spatial game where one space contracts and drags the visitor in, while the other expands letting the same visitor relax in the lounge.”

      Six bakeries and sweets shops with delectable interiors

      The rear room was finished entirely in a rich sea-green hue save for the steps leading down into the space, which are clad in white tiles to create the impression of the front room “spilling” into the back of the shop.
      Dotted throughout the space are a few wriggly-edged tables balanced on slim metal legs, which are also sea green.
      Furniture and fixtures have wriggly edgesRight at the back of the room is a small window that looks through to the kitchen. Its ledge and inner frame are coated in a glossy, bright-red paint reminiscent of caramelised apples – one of the most popular offerings on Cara Mela’s menu.
      The same shade of red was also applied to the shop’s front door.
      A red window offers views of the staff kitchenFounded in 2019, Casa Antillón is led by architects Marta Ochoa, Ismael López, Emmanuel Álvarez and Yosi Negrín.
      Cara Mela isn’t the first project the studio has completed in its hometown of Madrid. Elsewhere in the Spanish capital, the studio has designed Mood, a trendy hair salon with a galvanised steel facade.
      The photography is by Imagen Subliminal.

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      Casa Antillón pairs foam and steel in design of Madrid's Mood hair salon

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      Spanish studio Casa Antillón has incorporated galvanised steel elements throughout this hair salon in Madrid, which features bold mint-green ceilings sprayed with insulation foam.

      Prior to becoming the Mood hair salon, the five-by-ten-metre unit was an empty shell with barely finished walls and floors.
      Mood’s interior incorporates galvanised steel panelsCasa Antillón was tasked with finding a simple yet effective way to make this blank space more visually impactful.
      The studio, which is led by Marta Ochoa, Ismael López, Emmanuel Álvarez and Yosi Negrín, responded by completely covering the facade of the salon and large swathes of its interior with sheets of galvanised steel.
      Styling is done in front of large arched mirrors”It was the client’s proposal to work with an old friend of their family who is a construction expert in metallic solutions,” Casa Antillón told Dezeen.

      “The project aims for a maximum exploitation of the resources to build an iconic and quality space.”
      Insulation foam was sprayed onto the ceiling to create a bumpy finishSteel was used to line the salon’s street-facing wall and a deep-set box seat that was constructed around the front window.
      Metal panels also cover the rear wall, camouflaging a pair of silver-coloured doors that lead to the staff office and customer toilet.

      Danielle Brustman creates yellow highlights in sunny Melbourne hair salon

      Most of Mood’s remaining surfaces are finished in a complementary shade of light grey, while the ceiling was sprayed with insulation foam to create a bumpy texture and painted mint green.
      Casa Antillón applied the same colour to the salon’s support columns and the thick ceiling beam that runs along the length of the interior in order to “accentuate its longitudinal axis”.
      Silver doors blend into the salon’s rear wallSectioned off from the rest of the floor plan by curved steel screens, one side of the salon is given over to a dye lab where staff can mix up unique hair colours.
      The other side of the room houses a trio of arched backlit mirrors, each accompanied by a black styling chair.
      The street-facing wall and window seat are also lined with steel panelsJust behind are a couple of hair washing stations and a slim steel shelf that holds shampoos and conditioners.
      Towards the front of the salon there’s also a small waiting area, dressed with shapely black armchairs and a metal-framed coffee table.
      Black armchairs feature in the waiting areaOther striking hair salons include Qali in Vancouver, which was designed by Studio Roslyn to evoke the mood of 1980s Miami, and Mitch Studio in Melbourne, which designer Danielle Brustman outfitted with sunny yellow interiors.
      The photography is by Imagen Subliminal.

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      Takk perches communal bedroom on stilts in Madrid apartment renovation

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      Spanish architecture studio Takk has pulled back the walls of an apartment in Madrid to create an outdoor terrace alongside an insulated space that contains a bedroom on stilts.

      Takk removed all of the 110-square-metre flat’s interior walls to create a new 60-square-metre space enclosed with insulated pinewood walls, dubbed the winter house.
      This space contains an open-plan kitchen and living room as well as a self-enclosed bedroom perched on stilts, which is designed to be shared by a couple and their young daughter.
      Takk has pulled back the walls of a Madrid apartment to divide it into two spacesBoth the bedroom and the flat’s new exterior walls are made from low-carbon, heat-retaining materials, with pinewood frames sourced from Spain’s famed winemaking region of La Rioja and insulation made from duvets and charred cork.
      Takk nested the spaces in the winter house inside each other like the “layers of an onion” to retain heat and conserve energy during the colder months.

      Alongside the apartment, the studio created an exterior terrace by relocating the external walls and removing the previous north-facing windows.
      The apartment’s self-enclosed bedroom is raised on stiltsNamed the summer house, this space is connected to the inner areas of the home by sliding glass doors.
      According to the studio this arrangement eliminates the need for air-conditioning by passively cooling the interior and helping to lower the apartment’s carbon emissions in operation.
      Its door is hidden inside a book shelf”Climate change will modify all the routines of our existence,” Takk co-founder Mireia Luzárraga told Dezeen. “The way we think and build our environments should also adapt to this new situation.”
      “The project tests possible ways of organising a house to minimise energy consumption while using materials with a low carbon footprint.”
      From the outside, the door leading to the apartment looks like any other in the residential block. But on the interior of the flat, the entrance is hidden inside a built-in shelving system that runs along one side of the winter house.
      Surfaces throughout the apartment are clad in cork insulationA similar storage wall is mirrored on the other side of the open-plan space, forming a low counter that functions as a kitchen worktop on one side and a dining table and work desk on the other.
      Like most surfaces in the winter house, this is almost entirely clad in blackened cork panelling, which stores carbon and holds onto heat in the winter due to its colour and porous structure.
      In contrast, the summer house external space is finished with cement mortar, which doesn’t hold onto heat from the sun during the warmer months.
      An open-air terrace lies beyond the apartment’s pinewood wallsThis outdoor area consists of a narrow plant-filled porch that runs along the apartment’s entire north-facing wall to maximise natural light.
      At one end, it opens up into a covered terrace, separated from the interior by a pinewood wall with a row of tall vertical vents that can be opened to create a through-draft.
      In summer, the space can be shielded from the sun by an aluminium-foil thermal curtain normally used in greenhouses, while folding glass doors allow it to be turned into a kind of winter garden once temperatures drop.
      A communal outdoor bathtub is hidden behind a sheer pink curtainOn the other side of the folding doors lies a balcony housing a speckled bathtub, which is shielded from view only by a sheer pink gossamer curtain.
      This bathroom is designed to be used only in summer and by multiple members of the family at the same time, much like the open-plan living area and bedroom.

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      “The aim is to test the benefits, both energetic and emotional, of sleeping, playing or working together,” said Takk’s other half Alejandro Muiño.
      “In the past, rooms used to be bigger because they were communal and easier to heat. We want to recover this popular knowledge that was forgotten due to the emergence of cheap energy.”
      Vents in one of the terrace’s walls can be opened to create a draftThe stilted bedroom is the warmest part and the centrepiece of the home contained within the cork-panelled winter house and fitted with an extra layer of insulation in the form of duvets.
      These are strapped to the outside of the pinewood box alongside garlands of fake flowers, while huge stones from a quarry outside Madrid dangle from the ceiling, acting as a structural counterweight to prevent the thin wooden panel from bending.
      On the inside, the bedroom is entirely panelled in pinewood and split over two levels.
      The pinewood bedroom has two different levels”The advantages of sleeping together are countless, both for climatic and energy-saving reasons and for the reinforcement of emotional links,” Takk explained.
      “Elevating the bedroom also allows the kitchen to be more present in the daily routine of the residents because it is visible from any part of the house, which helps fight the gender and class cliches associated with these kinds of spaces.”
      The bedroom is fronted by sliding glass doorsAlthough elevated rooms such as this are rarely found in interiors, a number of architects have raised entire homes up on stilts in a bid to tread lightly on their surrounding environment.
      Dezeen has rounded up 10 of the most impressive examples, from a cork-clad cabin above a tidal salt marsh to a summer house perched on the rocky edge of a Norwegian island.
      The photography is by José Hevia.

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