Architects Lluís Corbella and Marc Mazeres have converted a former dairy in Barcelona into a loft-design house featuring a suspended walkway and glass walls .
The building situated in Barcelona’s Gracia district was constructed in 1934 and comprised a barn and an adjacent store marketing items manufactured employing milk from cows that lived on internet site.
The dairy ceased activity in 1984 following the introduction of legislation that outlawed the presence of livestock in the inner city, despite the fact that the shop remained.
The dairy steadily fell into a state of disrepair, right up until French architect Marc Mazeres purchased it and asked neighborhood architect Lluís Corbella to support him fulfil his vision of converting it into a home for his household.
In depth renovations were needed to stabilise the structure, whilst ensuring the unique facades and roof could be retained. The interior was completely gutted, but a brick pillar at the centre that supports the roof was stored and restored.
“The preservation of the original functions has always been an essential component of the new undertaking,” Corbella informed Dezeen. “We attempted to totally free these aspects visually to give them an critical presence in the undertaking.”
Within the cavernous space produced by getting rid of the present initial floor, the architects inserted metal beams and concrete slabs to support new volumes that type a series of interconnected rooms.
“We wished to turn the constructing into a loved ones house with 3 distinct spaces, plenty of organic light, large volumes and enormous openings,” Corbella explained. “The aim was to create one particular room for the three teenage sons, one for the mothers and fathers and a third a single currently being the link between mothers and fathers and young children.”
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Voids in between the numerous additions ensure the central location is visually and physically connected to the rest of the house, while assisting to retain a sense of the building’s authentic proportions.
The brick column and the timber beam that extends from either side of it dominate the main residing location, exactly where some of the authentic ceiling beams have been also reused.
Big windows fill the central space with natural light, which is able to reach other elements of the residence thanks to the double-height atrium and glazed inner partitions. The ground-floor windows open onto a walled terrace incorporating a small pool and outdoor dining region.
Inner partitions are constructed from brick covered in prefabricated plastered panels, which supply sturdy surfaces with very good acoustic insulation and helped to reduce the on-site construction time period.
The interior characteristics numerous things aimed at creating a enjoyable and lively environment for the family’s sons. A hanging chair is suspended from one of the wooden ceiling beams and an old pinball machine stands beside the brick pillar.
A table-tennis table is situated on a decked roof overlooking the surrounding rooftops, which can be reached by ascending a folded metal staircase.
Other agricultural buildings that have been converted for residential use consist of an outdated cattle shed in the Slovenian Alps that is now a two-storey vacation cabin and a barn in England with a loft bedroom available from a staircase hidden behind a cupboard door.
Photography is by Lluís Corbella and Eva Cotman.
Ground floor prepare 
Very first floor strategy 
Section 1 
Area two Dezeen
