Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025


A 1920s Barcelona Flat Trades Confining Walls for a Green-Painted Partition


A 1920s Barcelona Flat Trades Confining Walls for a Green-Painted Partition

Barcelona-based architecture office AMOO transforms a 650-square-foot apartment from the 1920s into a bachelor pad with a focus on light and color.

When Barcelona resident José Antonio started looking to purchase an apartment, he asked local architect Omar Ornaque of AMOO to weigh in on the options he was considering. The client and architect agreed that a flat on the first floor of a 1925 building in Barcelona’s La Nova Esquerra de l’Eixample neighborhood was the right choice, due to its excellent location and nearly 10-foot-high ceilings. The only problem with the roughly 650-square-foot unit was that it didn’t receive a lot of natural light.



The original apartment featured a long, narrow hallway that extended from the entry doorway to the patio and was separated from the small, enclosed living areas by a load-bearing wall. "All the work [we completed during the renovation] was made to reduce the corridor," says Ornaque, who cofounded the Barcelona-based practice with architect Aureli Mora. "That’s why we took the position to make the green elements," Ornaque continues. By demolishing most of the existing partitions and dividing the spaces by a long, painted stripe, the architects could begin to make the apartment feel bigger and brighter than it had initially.



In order to allow light to flow from one end of the apartment to the other, the architects cut windows into the walls that connect the living room to the kitchen, and the kitchen to the bathroom. This means that if someone is showering in the bathroom, whoever is in the kitchen can see them. Luckily, José is a 34-year-old bachelor who lives alone and was ready to embrace unique design choices.



"It’s very difficult to convince a client to make an open shower," the architect states. "If this was a flat for a family, it would be impossible, but it’s a flat for a single [guy who] wants this kind of hedonistic dwelling. He doesn’t care if in ten years his life changes-he likes how it looks right now for the kind of life he’s [living]."



In addition to brightening up the spaces, the architects also considered how to update the 1920s apartment for easy entertaining. Thanks to the cutout window between the kitchen and living room, José can prepare meals for his friends while they’re seated in the lounge area, and the groups can maintain conversations-and even pass food and drinks between the spaces. There’s also plenty of room on the patio for guests to gather, and if someone has a bit too much to drink, they can crash in the spare bedroom.



As for the distinct use of color throughout the interior: Ornaque and Mora gave José a few distinct combinations to choose from, including a more sober white scheme with gray accents and red marble, but the client ultimately chose green.

"He wanted the marble to be the same green that we painted the [partition], so it’s a change of material but not color," says Ornaque. The refurbished kitchen and bathroom feature Verde Guatemala marble countertops and white Carrara backsplash. Meanwhile, the architects added light-pink accents to the bedroom and living areas for contrast.


Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×