fidel and anna’s apartment

The apartment is located in a mid-block building from the 1960s–70s, on the top floor, just below the roof, and has a terrace facing the interior courtyard. It is oriented to the east and west through both façades, and to the south via a party wall that is fully exposed. The apartment was poorly insulated, and therefore very hot in summer and cold in winter.

The renovation aims to improve a clearly deficient and unbalanced layout between shared and private spaces, as well as to enhance overall comfort—both in terms of thermal performance and natural light distribution. The entire perimeter and ceiling have been lined with cladding and a suspended ceiling filled with thermal insulation.

The new interior layout places the shared spaces in a central position (living room, vestibule, multipurpose area), around which all service or private spaces (kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms) are arranged. This layout helps regularize the shape of the shared spaces, which is crucial given the skewed geometry of the building. This regularization is also achieved by placing built-in furniture that absorbs the irregularities.
The terrace gains new prominence by relocating the living room, which now opens fully onto it.

The distinction between shared and private spaces is based on a sensory and abstract concept. The design is conceptually driven by the idea of excavation: the shared space as a negative, a void, and the private and service areas as solid or full.
The shared spaces are autonomous but treated uniformly. They are conceived as if they were outdoors, open to the sky, and are designed to create that sensation: very light-colored surfaces to enhance brightness and the highest ceiling height possible.
In contrast, the service areas and bedrooms are treated as excavated spaces—with lower ceilings and deeper colors. On a sensory level, the contrast is most concentrated at the threshold between shared and private spaces, where the ceiling height drops to a minimum right after crossing the doorway.