Sarrià-Sant Gervasi is a residential area of Barcelona originally characterised by houses, gardens and villas for upper-class families, later replaced in the 1950s by apartment buildings of similar social character. This particular example sits in a block belonging to the rationalist tradition of mid-20th-century architecture. It belongs to a young family who were looking for a home that could adapt to different rhythms of daily life.
‘They wanted a home that felt warm and expressive, but also highly functional and able to evolve over time,’ says Skye Maunsell, whose eponymous design studio was commissioned to fulfil a brief that focused on spatial continuity and comfort, with a strong desire to move away from a conventional room-by-room organisation.
They began by exploring how the clients wished to live, use and inhabit their new home. ‘The idea of continuity became central from the very beginning,’ says Skye. ‘Rather than imposing a predefined layout, we approached the project like assembling a puzzle, carefully organising the floor plan into interconnected areas that respond to specific needs while remaining visually and spatially linked.’
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All the existing divider walls were removed, the space was stripped down to its core, and then re-built with a new distribution. The apartment is now organised into distinct areas that respond to the family’s needs.
One of the main challenges was balancing openness with the need for privacy in a family home. This was resolved through large sliding doors, which allow rooms to expand or contract offering varying degrees of privacy when needed, while textiles operate as soft boundaries.
Skye and her team worked with a discreet yet rich palette, combining birch wood, stainless steel, Mediterranean hydraulic tiles, white lacquer, glass and natural textiles. The custom-made yellow-toned tile floor extends throughout the entire apartment and onto the terrace, creating a continuous, warm ground that reinforces spatial unity. The harmonious balance of materials with their subtle tactility creates a tranquil, warm atmosphere throughout – functional, expressive and timeless.
While the project aligned with the clients’ initial aspirations, they were still surprised by their reaction to the finished interior, with the spatial fluidity and emotional quality of the space exceeding their expectations. ‘They especially appreciated how the home adapts effortlessly to different moments of daily life,’ says Skye.
She is particularly satisfied with how architecture, interior, furniture and materiality now work together as a single language. ‘The continuous wooden partitions and the bespoke furniture pieces extend the architectural concept to a smaller scale, creating an interior that feels cohesive and layered, without losing its sense of warmth and liveability.’ skyemaunsell.com
