House 1016

Keeping the walls untouched as much as possible, Raúl Sánchez Architects refurbished a house in a beach town next to Barcelona, using textures and materials to unify spaces.  

Raúl Sánchez Architects refurbished a house in Castelldefels, a beach town next to Barcelona. The small budget intervention minimized the demolition work, making the most of the existing features and improving the floor plan.

Img.1 Raúl Sánchez Architects, Casa 1016, Castelldefels, 2017
Img.2 Raúl Sánchez Architects, Casa 1016, Castelldefels, 2017
Img.3 Raúl Sánchez Architects, Casa 1016, Castelldefels, 2017
Img.4 Raúl Sánchez Architects, Casa 1016, Castelldefels, 2017
Img.5 Raúl Sánchez Architects, Casa 1016, Castelldefels, 2017
Img.6 Raúl Sánchez Architects, Casa 1016, Castelldefels, 2017
Img.7 Raúl Sánchez Architects, Casa 1016, Castelldefels, 2017
Img.8 Raúl Sánchez Architects, Casa 1016, Castelldefels, 2017

  On the ground floor, the former kitchen used to be very small, with little relation to the other spaces; the new kitchen project maintains its current location to take advantage of the existing plumbing and drain systems, but it now opens up to the living room through an opening in the wall that separates these two spaces. A new curved partition only 180 centimeters tall has been added between the living room and the kitchen, creating a dining area without splitting the space. A new black ceramic floor in a herringbone pattern unifies all areas.

Img.9 Raúl Sánchez Architects, Casa 1016, Castelldefels, 2017

On the first floor, the five-bedroom layout was kept, but the features of the central bedroom have completely changed: its opaque doorway becomes transparent, with the possibility of opening this room completely to the hallway through two large sliding doors. This way, the room becomes flexible, as it can be separated from the rest as a bedroom with an opaque curtain, as a game or reading room, or as the extension of the hallway into the outdoor terrace. Concealed built-in closets hide folding beds and storage surfaces, enabling different uses for these rooms. For the ground floor, a new black ceramic floor in a herringbone pattern unifies all areas.

Img.10 Raúl Sánchez Architects, Casa 1016, Castelldefels, 2017

The intervention on the ground floor (daytime living areas) and the first floor (nighttime living areas) can be read as a dialectical play: on the ground floor, the spaces are physically connected but visually and functionally separated, while on the first floor, the main room is visually connected but physically separated. A second outdoor renovation phase, including a new pool, a pergola, new pavement and an extra bedroom, will complete the overall project.

Img.11 Raúl Sánchez Architects, Casa 1016, Castelldefels, 2017
Raúl Sánchez Architects, Casa 1016, ground floor axonometry
Raúl Sánchez Architects, Casa 1016, first floor axonometry
Raúl Sánchez Architects, Casa 1016, ground floor plan
Raúl Sánchez Architects, Casa 1016, first floor plan
Raúl Sánchez Architects, Casa 1016, section 1
Raúl Sánchez Architects, Casa 1016, section 2
Raúl Sánchez Architects, Casa 1016, site plan


Casa 1016
, Castelldefels, Barcelona, Spain
Program: single family house
Architect: Raúl Sánchez – Raúl Sánchez Architects
Engineering: Marés ingenieros
Structures: Diagonal Estructuras
Built area: 170 sqm
Completion: 2017