The characteristic design of Casa Jes, a century-old mansion by the architecture firm Nook in Barcelona

Dear visitors of Forum City, we invite you to continue an interesting design theme of unusual houses of the world.

The Nook architectural firm worked on the Casa Jes project in Barcelona, Spain. The atmosphere of the interior is cozy and warm, a variety of decorative accessories give a sense of character and personality.

Here’s what the architects at Nook said about Casa Jes: This century-old residential building is just a stone’s throw away from ElsJardinets de Gracia. The room has a double façade typology. One of the facades faces a quiet street, the other faces a sunny courtyard.The hotel’s original features are very well preserved, except for the kitchen and bathroom, which were renovated in the ’90s. The interior has been adjusted for the greater convenience of the occupants: an open dining room, a spacious living room, a bathroom and guest bathroom, a bedroom with a convenient storage compartment, and a few more rooms.

The architects found two places in the building that have complex arrangements in the limited space. The first is the guest bedroom. It was not possible to put a double bed in it, since the room could also be used as a studio. The second was that the shower room and guest bathroom were on different levels. Space had to be freed up to open up the kitchen and living room, and an additional wooden platform had to be added to the bathroom. This platform made it possible to hide the gurney under the bedroom floor. The clients dubbed it the “Magic Bed.”. By changing the floor level, it also eliminated the second bathroom problem.
The double front is oriented so that the sun shines in the morning on one side and during the rest of the day – on the other side. This solution allowed to properly place the zones of day and night, which led to a change in the layout of the rooms.When it came to finishing, the designers were able to restore and polish the mosaic flooring throughout the house. Some pieces had to be moved, as some of them were lost due to the previous renovation. It was also decided to keep the original ceiling moldings in the private rooms. The new partitions don’t go straight up to the ceiling, which allowed the former stucco to remain. Newly created corners on the cabinets concealed the extra light bulbs.

The clients asked to keep the furniture from the previous tenants. Because of this, the distribution of large furnishings, such as the sofa, dining table and bed, was planned around the house from the beginning. The book collection was placed on wooden shelves, which helped improve the visual connection between the kitchen and dining room. Also a group of white shelves was added in the sitting area. The interior initially had many possibilities, it immediately included certain features for its future residents. Exploring the location of a versatile space multiplied the possibilities of the residence. The result was an open and bright home. Two horizontal planes, the mosaic floor and the ceiling, both in the same color, underline the strength of the project.

The plan after the redesign

Project

Photos courtesy of Nook New architectural firm.