anna & eugeni bach punctuate 'seven lives' building in barcelona with yellow façade elements

architects anna and eugeni bach have completed ‘seven lives’, a small block containing three apartments on a tight plot in barcelona’s horta neighborhood. the architects sought to design a residential building that would preserve the character of the area, but from a contemporary perspective. the building has three storeys with a 40 square meter (430 square foot) apartment on each floor. a roof terrace provides outdoor space for the upper two homes, while the ground floor has its own patio at the rear of the plot.

all images by eugeni bach

the central part of the plan contains a staircase that connects all levels, as well as a small kitchen and bathroom for each residence. anna and eugeni bach explain that this provides room for two equal spaces for each apartment on both façades — one facing the street and the other the block’s interior patio. ‘with this solution, we intend to provide a certain indeterminacy in the use of these spaces,’ say the architects. ‘they can be set up as a traditional home, with the placement of a double room on one side and a living room on the other, or they can provide for a shared home in the style of a student flat, with two symmetrical spaces.’

‘summing up all of the different combinations, there are seven ways of living in these three houses,’ the architects explain, alluding to the project’s name. from the exterior, the building’s street-facing façade is made up of typical elements and proportions common to the neighborhood: balconies, blinds, baseboards, and stucco. however, the design team sought to include an additional element — a balcony — above the perimeter of the façade. this quirky addition not only relates to the height of the adjacent structure, but also draws attention to the building’s roof terrace. see other projects by anna and eugeni bach on designboom here, including a converted chocolate factory.

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project info:

name: seven lives
location: carrer d’horta, 107, barcelona
architects: anna & eugeni bach
promoter: auriac
collaborators: roger molas, project architect; mario sousa, architect; milagros caputo, student; eric broder, student (model); masala consultors, structure; atres80, SL / joan escanelles, installations
quantity surveyor: xavier bages
completion date: 2020
constructor: construcciones tomás gracia, SA
photography: eugeni bach