Alexandra Sonnemans
Architect | Reflections & Actions

during construction
during construction
how it was before we started
we kept the original doors, adding an extra cut to open them towards the inside
view from the first floor, with new wooden shutters, tile floor and balustrade
view from the street, with new glass facade
during construction
collaboration with Aparentment


Sant Pere Mitjà

Conservation and transformation of the ground floor, first floor and entrance of a 19th century building on the Carrer de Sant Pere Mitjà, a four and a half metres wide street within the old city fabric of La Ribera, Barcelona, into a workshop and studio space. Through a careful dissection process, removing some elements of the central block and transforming it into a series of parallel corridors, the space is articulated with a more open relation between the front and the back. 

A small patio acts as a lantern and brings natural light, as well as natural ventilation inside, it creates a relation between inside and outside in the back, lower space and helps to understand the depth of the whole interior (16m) from the street. A new wooden staircase has been placed in this central area, leading to the mezzanine. Some of the most significant old walls that were uncovered during the construction process, have been restored and appear bare to enable a reading of the different layers of time.

The adaptation of the monumental wooden door into a folding door plays a central role in the project, in combination with a new (facade-filling) door of steel and glass.


Credits
Type: Transformation
When: Completed 2021
Project by: rotative studio (Alexandra Sonnemans and Caterina Viguera)
In collaboration with Barcelona-based architect Eulàlia Martin
Photos: © Victor Lacima and Xavi Creus

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