Mini House in Barcelona
- Heide Wessely
This small house stands in the busy centre of the old town between two neighbours of utterly different kinds: a mosque and a sex shop. Contrary typologies standing door to door are typical of the city, as are very different kinds of functions. In the 1960s this small unit with a ground floor area of only 18.5 m² but an imposing height of 15 m was a chemicals factory, then a bar, then the owners lived in the building, which was originally erected in the 19th century as a dwelling house. Making the building usable again and adapting it to meet contemporary standards was no easy task. The process took eight years, partly due to the slow-moving negotiations with the authorities but also on account of the many tricky details. For example: shortage of space meant that the spiral staircase had to be welded together on site. A self-supporting construction, it now runs through all floors without touching the old walls. The staircase space is of minimal dimensions but its height and the daylight from above give it an astonishing generosity. The old walls with their patterns of different types of brick and a few stones between them, were preserved unaltered. They tell the history of the house, show where the staircase used to be or where an archway once led outside. All the mezzanine levels were removed. Instead, steel beams now carry the floor slabs as well as the strips of glazing that run parallel to the street facade on each level of the building. They make the building seem bright, airy, and light and, despite the small floor areas, in no way claustrophobic. Introducing daylight into the interior was a central design concern. A broad strip of glazing above the entrance door introduces brightness into the ground floor, while from the courtyard behind the rear facade muted light enters the staircase through opaque sheets of glass. Seven stainless steel pipes, which also extend the entire height of the building and even run directly through the built-in fittings, house the services. One pipe was left empty to accommodate additional services in the future.
