Stripped-back, raw and yet luxuriously elegant, this Barcelona bolt hole is an enticing mix of colour, pattern and industrial style…
Get the look: These are vintage Onda lounge chairs by Giovanni Offredi for Saporti. The Oxford sofa, cushions, coffee table and rugs are by Jaime Beriestain. The red artwork is by Mexican artist Bosco Sodi.
PROPERTY
A first-floor apartment in Barcelona, comprising a living room, kitchen-diner, master bedroom suite – including a living area and office – guest bedroom suite and a terrace, which has both living and dining areas.
LIVING ROOM
This first-floor principal apartment sits in a historic building, with high ceilings, spacious rooms and a roof terrace. A former solicitor’s office, it had already been stripped bare before it was sold. There was nothing to be salvaged – everything had been ripped out, including the walls. It was devoid of original features and with suspended ceilings and strip lighting, there was complete free reign for a new design.
In the living room, a vaulted ceiling of Catalan brickwork contrasts with the rich pink elegance of the décor, where 1970s chairs reupholstered in soft suede splay brass legs across vivid red- veined rugs (pictured above).
Get the look: Thes vintage Onda lounge chair is by Giovanni Offredi for Saporti. The rug is by Jaime Beriestain. The painted metalwork wall sculpture is by Portuguese artist José Pedro Croft.
White walls are offset with throbbing pink upholstery and red lines that snake like veins and capillaries across the rug.
DINING AREA
Despite the apartment’s classic proportions, a pared-back, industrial look was created for the space. To achieve this vision, Jaime Beriestain was commissioned – founder of an eponymous concept store and interior design business in Barcelona.
Jaime looked at the brief – concrete floors, exposed brick, factory lighting – and took it to a completely new level.
When the office panelling was removed from the walls, peeling paintwork was revealed, which Jaime preserved to create a raw patina. Air-conditioning and heating pipes made from copper became a design feature. Similarly, rather than channelling the new wiring into the walls, an electrical grid of fabric-wrapped power lines joins plug sockets and light fittings. It’s as if the apartment’s nerves and blood vessels are revealed, a stylistic life force that pulses through and connects the rooms.
Get the look: The sofa and table are by Jaime Beriestain. The artwork, called SP95, 2015, is by Barcelona-based artist Yago Hortal.
The grey-painted walls in the dining room actually consist of three different colours, to create a distressed look.
Exposed wiring and industrial fittings ramp up the rough-luxe factor.
Get the look: The artwork is by New York artist Peter Halley.
KITCHEN
At the dark heart is the kitchen, a black-walled space leavened only by a trio of white pendants and a touch of wood. It doesn’t get much light, so it was purposefully made even darker.
The bespoke kitchen features a huge slab of black granite work surface with a tactile brushed finish. Just as dark are the walls, units and painted brickwork.
Get the look: For a similar paint shade, try Farrow & Ball’s Railings estate emulsion. The stools are vintage – visit Cox & Cox for similar. The vintage pendants are from Jaime Beriestain Concept Store.
SECOND LIVING AREA
Two separate living rooms were created, so there is space to retreat to even when guests are staying.
Get the look: The screen and sofa are by Jaime Beriestain. The coffee table came from Jaime Beriestain Concept Store. This is a vintage Stilnovo floor lamp. On the desk is the JWDA table lamp by Jonas Wagell for Menu. The photographic prints are from The Keyhole series by Erwin Olaf.
MASTER BEDROOM
Contrasts rule in the bedroom, with inky furnishings set against white-painted walls, a monochrome artwork and a space-age Sputnik light vying for attention with industrial piping.
Get the look: The pendant, table lamps and armchairs are all by Jaime Beriestain. The artwork, called Painting of Birds, 2015, is by Fernando Prats.
MASTER ENSUITE
The bathroom is a steampunk mash-up of vintage plumbing, valves and piping with contemporary art.
Get the look: The basins are vintage finds. Try Victorian Plumbing for similar. Check out William Holland for a statement copper bath. The artwork is by Barcelona-based artist Fernando Prats.
GUEST BEDROOM
A dangling light and lengths of exposed cable emphasise the height of the ceiling, but the row of artwork above the bed brings the room back down to scale.
Get the look: For a similar pendant, try Urban Cottage Industries. The vintage Austrian armchair was reupholstered by Jaime Beriestain.
See more of Jaime Beriestain’s work at beriestain.com
Photography ⁄ Manolo Yllera
