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    RA! clads Mexico City taco restaurant with broken tiles

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    Local architecture studio RA! took cues from Latin American art deco design when creating the tiny interior of Los Alexis, a small taqueria in Mexico City’s Roma Norte neighbourhood.

    Los Alexis is a taco eatery – or taqueria – in Roma, a famed district in Mexico City, which features examples of art deco architecture.
    Los Alexis is a small taqueriaRA! drew on the “vibrant personality” of the area when designing the single 15-square-metre room restaurant, housed within a former beer depository.
    “One of the most important requests of our client was for this tiny space to shine among the rest of the retail premises on the street,” said studio co-founder and designer Pedro Ramírez de Aguilar.
    RA! clad the floors and walls in a mosaic of broken tilesRA! clad the walls and floors in a distinctive mosaic of broken ceramic tiles with green joints as an ode to Barcelona, where chef Alexis Ayala spent time training, the designer told Dezeen.

    A curved bar finished in slabs of ribbed green material fronts the open kitchen, which is positioned on the right of the small open space.
    Utilitarian materials were selected for their resilienceUtilitarian materials, including the tiles, were chosen throughout the restaurant for their “endurance and fast cleaning processes”.
    White-painted steel breakfast-style stools line the bar, which has a bartop made of steel – selected for its resistance to grease, according to Ramírez de Aguilar.

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    The studio decided to preserve the space’s original, peeling ceiling “to create a wider contrast [within the eatery] and to remember the old premises”.
    Informal seating lines the pavement just outside of the taqueria where customers can eat and socialise.
    The one-room eatery is defined by its bar and open kitchenOther than a small bathroom at the back of Los Alexis, the one-room restaurant is purposefully defined by its bar and open kitchen.
    “Typical ‘changarros’ [small shops] in Mexico City are all about the conversation with the cookers, so we tried to have this interaction between people as a main objective,” explained Ramírez de Aguilar.
    Founded in 2017, RA! previously created the interiors for a restaurant in the city’s Polanco neighbourhood with a bar counter shaped like an inverted ziggurat.
    DOT Coffee Station is another hole-in-the-wall cafe in Kyiv, Ukraine, which YOD Group designed with a similar floor-to-ceiling mosaic of tiles.
    The photography is courtesy of RA!

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      Familien Kvistad brings colour to 1950s house in Oslo

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      Vibrantly coloured tiles and textiles feature in this house renovation in Oslo, Norway, designed by locally based duo Familien Kvistad.

      The Yellow House in the Apple Garden is a 1950s house in Oslo’s Voldsløkka area, home to a family of four and their cat, “the rambunctious Caspian”.
      Familien Kvistad has renovated a Oslo homeFamilien Kvistad founders, married couple Astrid and Ziemowit Kvistad, have completely remodelled the interior using a palette that also includes solid ash joinery and lightly speckled terrazzo surfaces.
      “When they bought the house, the family envisioned painting some walls, moving the kitchen and building two new bathrooms,” the pair told Dezeen. “Over time, things naturally escalated, resulting in a complete change of layout, roof windows, new insulation, siding… absolutely everything was replaced.”
      The kitchen features solid ash cabinetsThe three-storey house has an enviable setting in a large garden filled with fruit trees. It was this that primarily attracted the owners, rather than the building itself.

      “The house was relatively old, not architecturally distinctive and outdated inside on all levels,” said the designers.
      The house was originally built in the 1950sHowever, shortly after they bought the property, the council enforced new conservation zone restrictions that made it impossible to alter the building’s exterior in any way.
      The task for Astrid and Ziemowit was to modernise the house without changing or extending its structure.

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      “This is obviously a costly project; it would have been cheaper to build a new house,” they explained.
      “However, the outer structure had to remain.”
      A terrazzo floor and ochre sofa are installed in the conservatoryThe renovation removed many of the old internal partitions, creating a more open layout. This gives the ground floor a broken-plan feel, made up of various separate but connected living and dining spaces.
      The old loft was also removed and replaced with small mezzanines, revealing the sloping roof beams and increasing the ceiling height in the first-floor bedrooms and bathroom to up to four metres.
      Wooden ceiling joists are exposed throughoutThe colour scheme was based on “earthy shades” of the owners’ favourite colours.
      On the ground floor, this resulted in a feature fireplace clad in mustard-yellow Kaufmann tiles, a lounge sofa upholstered in a plum-coloured Kvadrat textile and a storage bench topped by forest-green cushions.
      A storage bench topped with green cushions lines the main living spaceAn abundance of wood brings balance to this bold palette, with Douglas fir flooring from Dinesen and solid ash kitchen cabinets matching the exposed ceiling joists.
      This level also includes a sunken conservatory featuring large plants, a terrazzo floor, an ochre-toned sofa and electric-blue cushions. On the wall, an expressive painting displays similar colours.
      Custom-designed wall carpets adorn the primary bedroom”During the renovation, the family sold most of what they already owned,” said Astrid and Ziemowit. “This meant that all the furniture was purchased new.”
      “However, they did have some art from before,” they added. “Much to our delight, they fit perfectly into both the colour palette and the style.”
      In one of the children’s rooms, a staircase doubles as a shelving unitUpstairs, the primary bedroom features a pair of tufted wall carpets designed and made by Familien Kvistad, depicting abstract landscapes.
      One of the two children’s bedrooms features a playful storage unit that doubles as a staircase, while the other has a ladder to provide access to the mezzanine loft above.
      The family bathroom combines green tones with terrazzoThe bathroom has a more mellow character, combining terrazzo sanitaryware with calming green tones. The basement floor mainly serves as a utility area, although it does include an extra bathroom and a living room that doubles as a guest bedroom.
      Other recently completed homes in Norway include a “house of offcuts” by Kolman Boye Architects and a villa on piloti by Saunders Architecture.
      The photography is by Magnus Berger Nordstrand.

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      Viruta Lab blankets former fisherman’s house in Valencia with chequerboard tiles

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      Spanish interiors studio Viruta Lab has renovated a compact house in El Cabanyal, Valencia’s traditional fishing neighbourhood, using geometric blue-and-white tiling for an understated nautical aesthetic.

      Built in 1946, the humble two-storey building once belonged to the grandparents of the current owner but had been boarded up for many years.
      Viruta Lab has renovated a former fisherman’s house in ValenciaViruta Lab was brought on board to transform the small 85-square-metre home into a modern holiday residence while respecting its great sentimental value to the family.
      “Emotion was a very important starting point,” the studio told Dezeen.
      The interior is dominated by chequerboard tiles”The house is a family legacy and the image they have of it is very deep, so it was necessary for any intervention to be as respectful as possible and with a language that they understood and took as their own,” Viruta Lab continued.

      “We understood that the architecture already had a value, that we only had to beautify it, preserve it.”
      Green upholstery provides a contrast with the blue-and-white colour schemeViruta Lab uncovered the building’s original brick walls from under layers of peeling paint and carefully repaired the pre-existing mouldings “to give height and nostalgic value to the interior design”.
      Liberal chequerboard tiling provides a contrast to these traditional design details, featured throughout all the rooms from the kitchen to the sleeping quarters.
      Viruta Lab restored the home’s original mouldingsIn a suitably nautical palette of navy and off-white, the tiles reference the great variety of tiled facades found in the El Cabanyal neighbourhood.
      “The dominant colours on the facades of the Cabanyal are white, blue and green, which are associated with a lifestyle linked to the resources offered by the sea,” the studio said.

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      “It was clear that we had to respect the local traditions, the architecture and the essence of the house and give it a maritime aesthetic, reinterpreting the Mediterranean style to adapt it to the tradition of the neighbourhood using its own materials.”
      Green shows up throughout the interior in the form of simple upholstered furniture – including a sofa, pouffe, benches and stools – all custom-designed by Viruta Lab for this compact space.
      European oak was used to form joinery detailsThe interior woodwork in European oak was stained to resemble Canaletto walnut, matching the tones of the two remaining original interior doors that were painstakingly restored and repurposed as sliding doors.
      “We wanted the woodwork to provide a quality counterpoint to the cold tones of the blues and greens, with an imprint and weight,” the studio said.
      The remaining interior doors were restored and repurposed as sliding doorsAnother key local material – esparto grass fibre – is less noticeable than the tiles but pops up throughout the house to add textural interest.
      Traditionally used to make ropes, baskets, mats and espadrille sandals, the flexible natural material was repurposed to form headboards and backrests, and even clad the suspended ceilings in the bathrooms.
      Esparto grass was used to from headboards and backrests”This material has been used because of its roots in the traditions and life in the Mediterranean area, especially in the Valencian community,” the studio said.
      “For Viruta Lab, the legacy comes from its use by men of the countryside and the sea, by the original residents of the Cabanyal, those men who used to wear espadrilles.”
      The house has a shaded outdoor dining area on the roofAs well as a clay-tiled roof terrace with a shaded outdoor dining area, the house also features a sensitively restored inner courtyard, complete with a stone water trough where the owner’s grandfather once dried his fishing nets at the end of a day’s work.
      Other projects that celebrate Valencia’s historic architecture include a 1920s penthouse that was renovated to celebrate its original mosaic floors and an octogenarian home in El Cabanyal that was updated using traditional construction techniques and local materials.
      The photography is by David Zarzoso.

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      Eight kitchens with tiled worktops that are pretty but practical

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      A kitchen with a statement oxblood-colour island and another with curved child-friendly counters feature in our latest lookbook, which spotlights eight worktops that are covered in tiles.

      Tiled worktops can be a functional yet attractive addition to a kitchen, able to withstand hot pots and food stains while also creating an opportunity for decoration.
      The examples in this lookbook range from tiled worktops designed as focal points to more utilitarian counters that blend in with surrounding walls, illustrating the potential of tiles in a kitchen and proving they are not limited to just splashbacks and flooring.
      This is the latest in Dezeen’s lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from our archive. Other recent editions showcase wine storage solutions, bedrooms with desk spaces and interiors that draw on Mediterranean living.
      Photo by Megan TaylorFruit Box, UK, by Nimtim Architects

      London studio Nimtim Architects opted for bright white tiles to cover the worktops of this kitchen and teamed them with plywood cupboards, shelves and drawers for a deliberately simple look.
      Some tiles have curved edges, helping to create seamless transitions between the counters and splashback while also eradicating sharp corners so the space is safer for the client’s children.
      Find out more about Fruit Box ›
      Photo by Nicole FranzenEast Village Apartment, USA, by GRT Architects
      The focal point of this kitchen in an East Village apartment is an island covered in oxblood-coloured tiles, which stand out against a backdrop of white-oak cabinetry with oversized handles.
      This rich, jewel-toned finish was complemented by chequerboard mosaic tiling across the floor and shiny brass legs for the end kitchen counters.
      Find out more about East Village Apartment ›
      Photo by Peter BennettsWest Bend House, Australia, by Brave New Eco
      Duck-egg blue tiles adorn the surfaces of this galley kitchen, which studio Brave New Eco created in West Bend House in Melbourne.
      This includes an island running through its centre, where square tiles are used on the worktop and the sides are lined with long, slender versions. They are teamed with wooden joinery and slender bar stools.
      Find out more about West Bend House ›
      Photo by Stijn BollaertDe Sijs, Belgium, by Officeu Architects
      Officeu Architects combined a mix of pastel-hued square tiles to decorate the worktops in this kitchen, which features in the De Sijs co-housing project in Leuven.
      The dusky colours of the surfaces are complemented by a mix of fern-green and wooden cabinets and help draw attention to playful furnishings and fixtures, including hanging lights and bright red pots.
      Find out more about De Sijs ›
      Photo by José HeviaPalma Hideaway, Spain, by Mariana de Delás
      Green tiles are used to create focal points throughout this lofty apartment, which architect Mariana de Delás has hidden in a former motorcycle workshop in Palma de Mallorca.
      This includes the kitchen, where the tiles crown a statement island supported by chunky pink legs. This watermelon-like colour combination pops against a concrete floor and wooden cabinets.
      Find out more about Palma Hideaway ›
      Photo by Henrietta WilliamsScreen House, UK, by Studio Ben Allen
      This pared-back kitchen features inside Screen House, a north London flat that was modernised and reconfigured by Studio Ben Allen.
      To align with a strict budget, the kitchen features utilitarian fixtures and combines simple wooden joinery with white-tiled surfaces. The end tiles are curved to form a smooth edge to the counter.
      Find out more about Screen House ›
      Photo by Joe FletcherDawnridge House, USA, by Field Architecture
      Large grey tiles are used across the countertops of this wooden kitchen, which Field Architecture designed within a house in California.
      They form part of the natural-looking material palette used throughout the home, for which the studio drew on the surrounding Los Altos Hills landscape that includes a creek and large oak trees.
      Find out more about Dawnridge House ›
      Photo by Peter BennettsBismarck House, Australia, by Andrew Burges Architects
      At Bismarck House in Bondi, Andrew Burges Architects used a palette of what it described as “outdoor materials” across the ground floor.
      Alongside exposed brick, concrete and steel elements, this utilitarian palette includes tiled kitchen worktops and is intended to blur the boundary between the inside and robust exterior of the home.
      Find out more about Bismarck House ›
      This is the latest in Dezeen’s lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from our archive. Other recent editions showcase wine storage solutions, bedrooms with desk spaces and interiors that draw on Mediterranean living.

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      Eight earthy kitchens where terracotta tiles add warmth and tactility

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      For this lookbook, we’ve collated eight kitchens from Dezeen’s archive that use terracotta tiling to bring a sense of warmth into the functional space.

      Terracotta – meaning baked earth in Italian – technically refers to any object made from fired clay. But most commonly, the term is used to describe pottery made from a porous type of earthenware clay that is high in iron oxides, giving it a rusty reddish brown colour.
      Unlike ceramic stoneware or porcelain, terracotta is fired at lower temperatures so it does not vitrify – meaning the clay retains a coarse, organic texture and isn’t waterproof unless it is glazed.
      Used as a backsplash or flooring, this can bring some much-needed colour and texture into the kitchen while helping to create a connection to the outdoors.
      This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring accent walls, bookshelves and sunken baths.

      Photo by Prue RuscoeBudge Over Dover, Australia, by YSG
      Australian studio YSG used narrow terracotta tiles to “draw the outside in” to this house in Sydney, spilling from the floor of the garden patio onto the adjacent kitchen and dining area, which can be opened up to the exterior using sliding glass doors.
      The rough clay is paired with shiny aubergine-coloured plaster and travertine in the sunken living room beyond, creating a contrast between raw and polished surfaces.
      Find out more about Budge Over Dover ›
      Photo by Mariell Lind HansenFarley Farmhouse, UK, by Emil Eve Architects
      When Emil Eve Architects added a gabled kitchen to a farmhouse in Wiltshire, the British studio set out to mirror the material palette of the existing home by adding arrowhead terracotta tiles to the extension’s exterior.
      Inside, matching rectangular tiles were laid in a herringbone pattern on the floor while a row of clay pendant lights hang from the wooden roof beams.
      Find out more about Farley Farmhouse ›
      Photo by Denilson MachadoHygge Studio, Brazil, by Melina Romano
      Terracotta flooring and tan brick walls lend a “rustic charm” to this São Paulo apartment, designed by Brazilian designer Melina Romano.
      The tiles spill out across the entire home including the bedroom and lounge, which is framed by a screen made of decorative perforated cobogó blocks.
      Find out more about Hygge Studio ›
      Photo by José HeviaLas 3 Marías, Spain, by Bajet Giramé and Nicolas Burckhardt
      All-over terracotta flooring was one of the ways that Spanish studio Bajet Giramé found to connect the kitchen of this 1960s holiday home to its generous backyard, alongside the addition of generous arched openings and perforated steel doors.
      “We ended up working on the whole plot, treating both house and garden as a playful matrix of varied interconnected rooms,” the studio told Dezeen.
      Find out more about Las 3 Marías ›
      Photo by Adrià GoulaLa Odette, Spain, CRÜ
      To create a bright, open floor plan inside this apartment in a Barcelona housing block that dates back to 1877, Spanish studio CRÜ tore down most of the internal petition walls
      Instead, the kitchen is now delineated by a statement wall clad in terracotta tiles – left over from the flooring and turned back-to-front to reveal their ribbed underside.
      Find out more about La Odette ›

      West Bend House, Australia, by Brave New Eco
      Three kinds of tiling provide textural interest inside the kitchen of this “forever home” in Melbourne, with sections of rustic terracotta contrasted against a backsplash of teal-glazed ceramics.
      Corrugated tiles were also folded around the pendant light above the island that illuminates the work area, courtesy of Australian lighting brand Southdrawn.
      Find out more about West Bend House ›
      Photo by Conrad BrownComo Taperia, Canada, by Ste Marie
      Both the seating area and the open kitchen of this Spanish tapas bar in Vancouver were lined with terracotta, in a nod to the brick chimneys of Barcelona’s industrial Poble Sec power station.
      Other Catalan references can be found in the restaurant’s cobalt blue accents – informed by the paintings of Joan Miró – and various abstract details that nod to the work of architect Antoni Gaudí.
      Find out more about Como Taperia ›
      Photo by German SáizConde Duque apartment, Spain, by Sierra + De La Higuera
      Different spaces in this open-plan apartment in Madrid were defined by traditional Moroccan zellige tiles, with glossy yellow and green glazes and organic handcrafted surfaces.
      To balance out these flashier surfaces, terracotta was used to ground the kitchen and dining area, paired with plain white walls and custom timber joinery.
      Find out more about Conde Duque apartment ›
      This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring accent walls, bookshelves and sunken baths.

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      Ten Spanish apartment renovations characterised by eclectic tiles

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      For our latest lookbook, we have collected 10 apartments in Spain that have been brought to life using decorative tiles, from preserved 20th-century features to speckled contemporary terrazzo grout.

      Known for its abundance of colourful tiles, Spain has many period apartments with original details including ornate archways and eclectic tiling.
      The following architecture and interior design studios have made the most of these traditions when renovating homes, which often involved refreshing the homes’ interiors while maintaining their history, or adding contemporary elements that nod to the past.
      This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring statement carpets, pop-up shops and homes with sliding doors.
      Photo is by José HeviaYurikago House, Barcelona, by Mas-aqui

      Architecture studio Mas-aqui opened up an apartment in Barcelona by creating multiple levels lined with slabs of exposed concrete, slatted wood and reddish ceramic tiles.
      The dwelling was named  Yurikago House after the Japanese word for a cradle, which references the shape of the timber structure that supports part of a new mezzanine that was created in the renovation.
      Find out more about Yurikago House ›
      Photo is by German SáizMadrid apartment by Sierra + De La Higuera
      Set within a 1940s building, interior spaces in this Madrid apartment were delineated with vibrantly hued Moroccan zellige tiles, from bold yellow accents in the living room to an emerald green kitchen.
      The tiles are defined by imperfect hand-moulded surfaces and feature throughout the home in the form of decorative skirting as well as flooring and cabinetry.
      Find out more about this Madrid apartment ›
      Photo is by Mariela ApollonioValencia apartment by DG Arquitecto
      During the minimalist renovation of a 1920s apartment in Valencia, local studio DG Arquitecto preserved the original mosaic elements – flooring that the firm called “typical” of the city.
      The studio paired mid-century rattan dining chairs and delicate timber elements with the colourful tiles while original mouldings and decorative arched doorways were also maintained.
      Find out more about this Valencia apartment ›
      Photo is by José Hevia1040 Unit, Madrid, by Studio Noju
      Working within Madrid’s iconic brutalist Torres Blancas tower, emerging practice Studio Noju created an apartment that balances contemporary details with the building’s brutalist history.
      Each of the dwelling’s three bathrooms were individually colour-coded with small geometric mosaics that nod to the green ceramic tiles that clad the apartment’s terraces.
      “The [mosaic] material allowed us to solve all the elements of the bathroom such as shower areas, vanities, walls and floors, referencing a similar material strategy used in the original design,” studio co-founder Antonio Mora told Dezeen.
      Find out more about 1040 Unit ›
      Image is courtesy of NarchBarcelona apartment by Narch
      Eclectically arranged decorative floors dating back to the early 20th century take centre stage in this Barcelona apartment that was renovated by Narch architecture office.
      Known as encaustic tiling, which is common in the city, each tile is created by pouring pigmented ceramics into moulds and pressing them to create a pattern.
      Elsewhere in the apartment, doors made from laminated glass screen off its bedrooms. This material was chosen for its neutrality in order to emphasise the space’s ornate flooring.
      Find out more about this Barcelona apartment ›
      Photo is by Asier RuaCasa Olivar, Madrid, by Matteo Ferrari and Carlota Gallo
      Casa Olivar is a two-storey apartment by designers Matteo Ferrari and Carlota Gallo, which is characterised by handmade terracotta floor tiles that complement the home’s muted colour palette.
      Created as a “sensorial refuge”, the dwelling includes two large windows in the living room that flood the space with natural light. Earthy-toned, simple materials feature throughout, including textured plaster finishes.
      Find out more about Casa Olivar ›
      Photo is by Judith Casas SayósBarcelona apartment by Parramon + Tahull
      Barcelona studio Parramon + Tahull added bespoke birch plywood joinery and continuous tiled flooring to an apartment in the city’s Gracia neighbourhood, in order to blend with the building’s original features.
      Created by Spanish manufacturer Wow, the terracotta tiles feature a mismatched geometric design that covers the entire apartment, including the kitchen and the bathroom.
      Find out more about this Barcelona apartment ›
      Photo is by José HeviaLaia and Biel’s House, Barcelona, by TEd’A
      Architecture office TEd’A used crushed tiles to create playful terrazzo grout in a renovated apartment that belongs to the owners of the Mallorcan tile brand Huguet.
      The grout was made from the original terracotta tiles that lined the home before its revamp, which were crushed into tiny pieces to form a reddish-hued aggregate that was mixed with existing white tile grout.
      “Our idea was to keep the best parts of the old flat we bought,” Biel told Dezeen, citing sustainability and honouring the apartment’s original design.
      Find out more about Laia and Biel’s House ›
      Photo is by Yago PartalEnd of the Roc, Barcelona, by Nook Architects
      Nook Architects redesigned another apartment in Barcelona while maintaining its distinctive historical details, including a striking mural-style wall that is over 40 years old, timber beams and intricately patterned floor tiles.
      “Our approach to End of the Roc revolved around the restoration and consolidation of the building’s original character,” said the architecture studio.
      Find out more about End of the Roc ›
      Photo is by Jordi FolchCasa Burés, Barcelona, by Vilablanch and TDB Arquitectura
      Interior design studio Vilablanch collaborated with TBD Arquitectura to refurbish all 26 apartments within Case Burés – a 20th-century building constructed by the late architect Francesc Berenguer i Mestres.
      The team selected “silent” contemporary furnishings to complement Case Burés’ original decorative features, such as stainless steel geometric cabinetry that was chosen so as not to “compete with” or “imitate” the colourful tiled flooring.
      Find out more about Casa Burés ›
      This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring statement carpets, pop-up shops and homes with sliding doors. 

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      Studio Noju renovates curvy apartment in brutalist Torres Blancas tower

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      Local firm Studio Noju has updated a two-storey Madrid apartment within the Torres Blancas high-rise with a renovation that remains “in constant dialogue” with the original apartment design.

      Designed in 1961 by architect Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oíz, Torres Blancas is a 71-metre-high exposed concrete tower featuring cylindrical shapes that create bulbous balconies on its facade and curved rooms inside.
      Studio Noju renovated the largest apartment in Torres BlancasStudio Noju overhauled the 1040 unit – the brutalist building’s biggest apartment – to balance its history with contemporary design details, according to the firm.
      “Our interior design proposal for the apartment takes inspiration from the original ideas that the architect came up with for the building,” studio co-founder Antonio Mora told Dezeen.
      Recovered terrace space is characterised by green tilesA key part of the project involved expanding the apartment’s exterior area on the first floor from 15 to almost 80 square metres to create the amount of outdoor space that existed before multiple past renovations of the tower.

      This expansion added terraces that are characterised by curved floor-to-ceiling glazing and slatted crimson shutters. These open onto gleaming green ceramic tiles that take cues from 1960s interiors and form built-in benches, fountains and planters that follow the terraces’ meandering contours.
      Visitors enter at a semi-circular foyer”The outdoor spaces have been once again consolidated into a continuous terrace that follows the outline of the original plan,” explained Mora, who set up Studio Noju with Eduardo Tazón in 2020.
      “There is a constant dialogue between many of the solutions we have proposed in the interior design of the apartment with those proposed more than 50 years ago by Sáenz de Oiza.”
      White walls and ceilings create an airy open-plan first floorVisitors enter the apartment at a semi-circular foyer featuring Segovia black slate and wine-red panelling – the same materials used in the building’s communal areas.
      The open-plan ground floor is interrupted by snaking white structural walls, such as a partition in the living room that features repetitive circular openings.
      The kitchen was formed from a continuous countertopA continuous custom-made countertop with a subtle green hue forms the kitchen area, which includes a statement bulbous sink that echoes Torres Blancas’ cylindrical facade.
      Light reflects from the original glass-brick tinted windows and illuminates the smooth resin floor and metallic wall accents.
      Studio Noju salvaged an original brass banister for the staircaseWhite geometric treads create a floating staircase with an original polished brass banister that leads to the first floor. Upstairs, a sequence of bedrooms is characterised by oak ceilings that contrast with the bright white ceilings on the ground floor.
      Each bathroom is playfully colour-coded with individual mosaics of bright tiles, complete with sconce lights, mirrors and cabinetry that follow the rounded shapes found throughout the apartment.
      Each bathroom has colour-coded tiles”The [mosaic] material allowed us to solve all the elements of the bathroom such as shower areas, vanities, walls and floors, referencing a similar material strategy used in the original design,” said Mora.
      Adjacent to the main bedroom, the first-floor terrace includes a large green tile-clad outdoor bathtub cloaked in a sheer curtain, which is flanked by plants that were positioned to absorb the water produced by bathing.

      Casa Olivar is a Madrid apartment designed as a “sensorial refuge”

      “The element that we are most proud of is the feeling of a house-patio that has been recovered in the apartment,” reflected Mora.
      “The unit once again revolves around the exterior spaces, and these seem to blend with the interior through the curved traces of green tiles that enter and exit the living room and dining area,” added the architect.
      “Our biggest challenge was striking a balance between honouring the building, but at the same time imbuing the interior design with our language.”
      The first floor terrace features an outdoor bathtubStudio Noju showcased a similar colourful style in its debut project, which involved the renovation of an open-plan Seville apartment.
      Torres Blancas was among the buildings captured by photographer Roberto Conte in his series of brutalist buildings in Madrid.
      The photography is by José Hevia. 

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      Parramon + Tahull adds tiled floors and bespoke joinery to refurbished Barcelona apartment

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      Barcelona studio Parramon + Tahull has renovated a traditional apartment in the city’s Gracia neighbourhood, adding birch plywood joinery and ceramic tiling to complement the building’s original features.

      The apartment is home to a family of four, which has lived there for several years and wanted to carry out a significant overhaul of the outdated interior.
      Parramon + Tahull has renovated an apartment in BarcelonaThe clients asked local architects Lluís Parramon and Emma Tahull to oversee the transformation of the space to provide an open living area and kitchen, along with separate bedrooms for each of their two daughters.
      The apartment is located on the upper floor of a five-storey building dating from the 1900s. A previous renovation undertaken around 20 years ago had altered the layout and destroyed most of the original features.
      The studio added bespoke joinery including a small built-in deskParramon + Tahull began by removing all of the existing partition walls in order to create a brighter and more practical series of spaces within the compact floor plan.

      The rearranged interior also provides plenty of usable storage and restores some of the original details, including wooden beams that had been painted white by the previous owners.
      Terracotta tiles cover floors throughout the apartment”We wanted to bring natural light into all the spaces and to achieve a sense of flowing, continuous space despite the limited surface area,” Tahull told Dezeen.
      “We were interested in working with natural materials and returning some of the original spirit of the building to the apartment.”
      Bespoke joinery is also provides storage in the bedroomsDue to its small size, the architects paid close attention to the choice of materials and layout in order to create a serene, spacious feel.
      “To achieve all the client’s goals, we had to work on a very precise scale of detail, designing all of the furniture to measure in order to take advantage of every square centimetre,” Tahull explained.

      NeuronaLab reorganises Barcelona loft with blue stair storage unit

      The interior utilises a palette of predominantly natural materials, chosen to complement the wooden beams while providing an element of tonal and textural contrast.
      Parramon + Tahull chose ceramic tiles from Spanish manufacturer Wow to create a continuous flooring surface throughout the entire apartment, including the kitchen and bathroom.
      Glossy white tiles clad the walls in the bathroom”We were looking for a small-format tile so the feeling of space would be bigger,” Tahull added. “We also wanted to play with a tapestry-like colour scheme that included white, because white gives a great luminosity and echoes the white of other elements.”
      The white and terracotta-coloured tiles include different formats, textures and surface finishes ranging from glossy to matte.
      White grout is used for the floors throughout the rooms, while the bathroom walls are clad in white tiles with contrasting reddish grout.
      Reddish grout provides a visual contrastBespoke fitted cabinetry made from birch plywood provides practical storage in every room, as well as in the hallway. Along with the tiles, the wood forms a consistent element that unites the spaces.
      Lluís Parramon and Emma Tahull founded their studio in 1997. The office focuses on delivering comfortable, contextual and energy-efficient architectural projects for private and commercial clients.
      The photography is by Judith Casas Sayós.

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      Fiandre covers Armenian church in porcelain slabs printed with 1.5 million unique motifs

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      Promotion: Fiandre Architectural Surfaces porcelain slabs, digitally printed with 1.5 million icons, cover the facade of an Armenian church in Texas designed by New York-based architect David Hotson.

      For the facade of Saint Sarkis Armenian Church in Carrollton, Texas, architect David Hotson and Yerevan-trained architectural designer Ani Sahakyan worked closely with Italian architectural surface manufacturer Fiandre to create a facade that works at a series of visual scales.
      The church is covered with Fiandre porcelain slabsThe church’s western facade that surrounds its entrance is clad with porcelain slabs depicting a traditional Armenian cross or “tree of life” with distinctive floral branching arms. This Armenian symbol of faith in the face of suffering and of resurrection and redemption serves as a memorial to the victims of the Armenian genocide.
      Viewed more closely, as the visitor approaches the church, the cross is composed of interwoven botanical and geometrical motifs drawn from Armenian art. These motifs represent the bonds of ancestry and tradition that have bound the Armenian community together across centuries of challenge and upheaval.
      Examined from even closer proximity, visitors will be able to see that the slabs are covered with individual icons or pixels, each one centimetre in diameter.

      Printed at a high resolution using Fiandre’s “Design Your Slab” or DYS printed porcelain slab system, the tiny icons – 1.5 million in total – cover the entire church facade. All of the icons are unique and derived from the circular emblems that recur throughout Armenian decorative arts.
      The ceramic slabs are printed with 1.5 million icons based on ancient Armenian motifsThe 1.5 million unique icons are designed to symbolise the individuals who were murdered in the Armenian genocide. The scale of the individual icons that are spread across the entire building facade is intended to make tangible the scale of this historical atrocity.
      To create the facade design, a computer script was developed by architectural designer Ben Elmer to generate the icons based on ancient Armenian ornamental motifs.
      These icons were scaled to fit a total of 1.5 million on the facade and were distributed according to density to form larger-scale patterns when viewed from a distance.
      The ceramic surfaces are also UV-resistantThe motifs were printed to the exact pixel modules required onto Fiandre’s large-format, exterior-grade, UV-resistant porcelain rain screen slabs.
      “The facade is believed to be the first use of this technology to optically engage the viewer in a series of visual scales nested inside each other, from the scale of an entire architectural facade to the scale of individual pixels each rendered in high-resolution at the threshold of visual perception,” said Fiandre.
      In addition to the memorial facade, Fiandre supplied the full range of porcelain interior and exterior floor, wall and soffit finishes used throughout the Saint Sarkis Campus.
      The Armenian church in Texas is designed by New York-based architect David HotsonNew York-based Hotson’s design for the new church building is modelled on the ancient church of Saint Hripsime, which stands near Armenia’s modern capital of Yerevan.
      Having withstood fourteen centuries of upheaval, Saint Hripsime serves as a symbol of the endurance, perseverance, and resilience of the Armenian people. The cornerstone of Saint Sarkis was laid in 2018, fourteen centuries after Saint Hripsime was completed in 618 AD.
      “From this brief, Hotson developed a design that looks forward as well as backward, marrying ancient architectural and artistic traditions reflecting Armenia’s cultural legacy as the world’s first Christian nation with contemporary digitally-driven design and fabrication technologies,” explained the manufacturer.
      To learn more about Fiandre Architectural Surfaces, visit the brand’s website.
      Partnership content
      This article was written by Dezeen for Fiandre as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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