Residential building in a small passage, in the city center of Barcelona.

The building relates with its neighbours by means of two façades. “We designed the façade as a succession of layers”, explains Josep Lluis Mateo, principal of Mateo arquitectura office, “ One interior, of glass and stainless steel, and another exterior, close to it, of wood that opens and closes at will. It protects us from noise and inquisitive eyes, acts as a filter between inside and outside, and gives the building an urban image”.

The main façade is defined by two planes. One, flush with the façades of the adjacent buildings, comprises stainless steel and glass to ensure optimum lighting for the apartments on the upper floors, the shop and the communal areas of the building, supported by three black iron pillars. The other, nearest the street, like a veil forming a filter between the pavement and the interiors, is a wooden brise-soleil. This second structure is separated 45 cm from the façade and is made up of four different mechanisms, turning the façade into a dynamic element that reinvents the Majorcan-style louvered shutters that protect the windows of our neighbours.

The interior is designed as a continuum, with rooms arranged around a living space that extends all the way from the front door to
the façade. “To accomodate domestic life in the dense central city, architecture has to veil and control pure transparency”, says Josep Lluis
Mateo.