A Barcelona Designer Reimagines a Factory Loft For His Family—With "Absolutely No Doors"
Gabriele Schiavon’s vision for a recently closed thermal mold workshop involved a strict set of rules: maintain the industrial feel and keep a fluid layout.
Gabriele Schiavon’s vision for a recently closed thermal mold workshop involved a strict set of rules: maintain the industrial feel and keep a fluid layout.
Gabriele Schiavon needed a place to live. After a breakup, the cofounder and creative director of the Barcelona-based design studio Lagranja needed enough space to co-parent the two children, Teo and Ona, then 9 and 13, he has with his ex. "I looked around Barcelona’s trendy inner areas and couldn’t find anything that I even minimally liked that was in my budget," he remembers. Feeling slightly desperate, he searched online for an affordable but sizable property for sale. In the outer-limits barrio of Bellvitge, a recently vacated thermal mold workshop popped up.
When Gabriele toured the space, he was struck by three massive arched windows carved into the upper part of the front facade below a pitched roof. "The composition immediately reminded me of the AT&T Building," says Gabriele, referring to Philip Johnson’s postmodern tower in New York City. The listing was for the third floor, above an existing dance studio. Upon entering, he saw that the windows not only embraced a wide, uninterrupted sky, but would also drench the interior in natural light. Minutes later, he realized that a potential living room in the 2,300-square-foot space was also large enough to accommodate his beloved Nanimarquina rug. His mind was made up.
See the full story on Dwell.com: A Barcelona Designer Reimagines a Factory Loft For His Family—With "Absolutely No Doors"
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