Penthouse in prestigious Barcelona neighborhood of Les Corts
Location: Barcelona, Spain . GFA: 524 sqm
Architectural concept
Eixample residential architecture
High above the prestigious neighbourhood of Les Corts, our studio conceived this exceptional penthouse as a vertical journey - from the warmth of intimate interior living on the main floor to the open Mediterranean sky of a private rooftop world. The client, a person of refined taste and cosmopolitan sensibility, wished for a residence that would honour the layered heritage of Barcelona while expressing an uncompromisingly contemporary vision. We responded with a spatial language that draws equally from the rational clarity of Eixample residential architecture and the sensory richness of the Catalan domestic tradition - a dialogue between restraint and abundance that gives every room its own distinct emotional register.
Spatial organisation
The main floor unfolds generously across a sequence of day and night zones - a vast living area opening directly onto a wraparound terrace, a fully equipped kitchen with laundry and office functions, and a principal suite with an expansive dressing room and study. Four further suites complete the private programme, each treated as an autonomous retreat with its own character. The upper level is devoted entirely to outdoor living: a private pool terrace, an outdoor kitchen pavilion clad in warm teak timber cladding, and a complete bathroom - all framed by panoramic views stretching to the Collserola ridge and the city's tiled roofscape. It is, in every sense, a penthouse that earns its name.
Materials and climate
Girona limestone
Our studio selected materials that speak both to regional identity and to the specific sensory atmosphere each space demands. The bathrooms are finished in Girona limestone - a stone quarried less than 100 kilometres north of the city - whose warm beige veining absorbs and diffuses the Mediterranean light with extraordinary gentleness. Colour-coded ceramic basin columns, specified according to our personal sketches, bring sculptural playfulness against the stone's natural gravity. In the interiors, rich dark walnut joinery lines the dressing rooms and the rooftop kitchen pavilion, its grain echoing the warmth of the timber deck underfoot. Bespoke wallcoverings - a botanical print in the bedroom suite, a graphic circular motif in the games and wardrobe volume - assert the client's personality with conviction.
Bioclimatic strategy
Barcelona's Csa Mediterranean climate - hot dry summers regularly exceeding 32 degrees Celsius, mild wet winters - shaped every passive design decision we made. The rooftop pavilion is oriented to maximise cross-ventilation, with operable glazed walls that pivot fully open to channel the prevailing southwest sea breeze across the pool terrace. Deep roof overhangs and motorised exterior solar blinds on south and west elevations manage solar gain through the critical July-to-September period, reducing cooling loads without compromising the panoramic city views that define the property. Thermal mass provided by the limestone finishes in bathrooms and terrace paving absorbs daytime heat and re-radiates it gently into the cool evenings.
Energy and sustainability
outdoor swimming season
The project was developed in full compliance with CTE DB-HE, Spain's current building energy performance code, with enhanced insulation values in the roof assembly that exceed the minimum requirement for climate zone C2. The primary HVAC system is an aerothermal heat pump - a technology well matched to Barcelona's mild winter baseload - supplemented by zone-by-zone fan coil units that allow precise temperature management across the duplex. Hot water generation is integrated into the same aerothermal circuit, reducing primary energy consumption by an estimated 65 percent against a conventional gas installation. The rooftop pool is equipped with a solar-assisted heating system, extending the outdoor swimming season comfortably from April through October - seven full months of uninterrupted terrace life.
Landscape
The rooftop landscape was designed as a living garden in the sky. Potted citrus trees - orange and lemon - line the terrace perimeter in white oversized planters, their glossy foliage filtering the afternoon light and perfuming the air with blossom from March onward. Olive trees anchor the corners, their silver-grey canopies forming a soft counterpoint to the hard geometry of the pool surround. The outdoor furniture palette - low modular sofas in sand-toned textile, slate-grey sun loungers, sculptural parasols - was specified to dissolve into the landscape rather than compete with it, so that the skyline of Barcelona always remains the primary spectacle.
In the end, luxury is not measured in square metres but in the quality of silence between one beautiful thing and the next.
Interested in a similar project?
Let's discuss your vision and create something extraordinary together.
Get in touch
