Those who follow Exágono magazine and our social media channels know how much we enjoy showcasing the work of those “young voices writing the future.” Thanks to them, we can look towards the horizon with hope. Today we present a project by the youngest member of this collective: Júlia Marbà Prats, who, at just 25 years old, developed the design and construction of her own home-studio. I invited Júlia to share her experience, and here is her beautiful text. I must confess that reading it moved me deeply. I hope you enjoy this project as much as we do, and that it serves as inspiration for all architecture students.
Andrés Moratinos
Casa Oasis is the jewel I had always dreamed of. It is that goal for which many of us begin studying architecture: without knowing whether someone will ever commission a project from you, but with the certainty that, at the very least, you will be able to build your own..
In 2019, my partner and I began searching for rental flats in Barcelona so we could move in together. As you already know, housing options in the city are scarce and expensive—they were in 2019 and they still are in 2026. So I proposed an alternative: to look for a commercial space, a warehouse, a small garage—anything—to transform it and build our own little loft. That New York dream I had in mind: concrete, steel, high ceilings, large windows, and a double-height living room from which you could see the en-suite bedroom, all open and flowing. After three months visiting damp, poorly ventilated garages with inner courtyards that let in more grime than light, it became clear: it was, in truth, an impossible illusion.
In a neighbourhood of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat—where part of my family lives and where I spent my first year of life—we happened, by chance, to meet a man who was selling an old bazaar. According to him, it was nothing more than a nest of rubble and dirt. Even so, we went to see it. The space still retained shelving and some products from the shop, a room full of boxes, a bathroom in very poor condition, and all the walls and ceilings covered with plasterboard and gypsum. Yet there was something that deeply moved me: a central space six metres wide and, above the false ceiling, a roof rising to six metres in height.
That is where the adventure began.
We gathered every bit of money we had, bought the premises and started construction work. It was November 2020, I was 25 years old, and I was drawing my own home. Even today, I say it out loud and can hardly believe it. Making decisions was harder than when I designed for others. We were very young and didn’t know what the future would bring, so the house had to be able to evolve with us. What we were certain about was that we wanted flexible spaces, capable of adapting to changing needs. We also wanted plenty of light, some open or landscaped space, and—if possible—quiet. All of this while bearing in mind that L’Hospitalet is one of the most densely populated cities in Europe, and that the former bazaar was located on one of its main streets.
In February 2023 we moved in. Dream fulfilled. Four days before my 28th birthday, my self-gift was to enter my bedroom, shower in the bathroom, and cook in the kitchen I had imagined for so many days, months and years. I was very happy, but also deeply exhausted. During the years of construction, I combined the project with a 40-hour work week at an architecture studio, where I carried out my first projects for private clients. Added to this was the personal pressure to do things well, not to disappoint (myself), to prove (to myself) that all those years of study had been worth something. It was my first large-scale project, my first rehabilitation, and I wanted it to be sincere, different and unique.
It may seem like unnecessary pressure, but when you take such an important step as designing the home where you will live with your partner and begin building a family, you want to do it as well as possible. And even better, if that is achievable.
Three years after that first night, I can now speak from a different perspective. Without pressure. I have already passed the test, and I breathe differently. I have matured as an architect and as a person. Today I focus more on working and enjoying than on constantly proving to myself whether I am capable or not. I have learned that sometimes things turn out well and sometimes not so much, and that what truly matters is being honest with oneself and continuing to improve. Casa Oasis has truly become our oasis of peace, freedom, rest and family life. I often wonder what my son—who is now four months old—will draw when he is asked to draw his home at school.
Last summer, before our son was born, we made the first major changes to the house. We intervened in the central garden and reorganised the rooms. The former guest bedroom is now the baby’s room; what used to be a study has become a small gym room; and the entrance, which I initially used only to receive clients, has now fully consolidated as a studio-workshop. We have been able to confirm that the idea of flexibility works, and that spaces adapt to the needs of each stage of life. In the garden, we built built-in sofas, a large outdoor bathtub and a planter with an olive tree. I believe that is what the space was asking for, although I didn’t see it—or didn’t need it—until we had lived there for some time.
The family grows, needs change, and the house adapts to us just as I had imagined. That is one of the great achievements of architecture, a discipline that is solid and apparently immovable. We have also discovered the pleasure of returning home after a few days away. Even while on holiday, coming back to the peace that the house offers is priceless. And finally, the feedback received over these years—from both people within the architectural world and those outside it—has been extraordinary. There is something in this house that is reflected in the eyes of those who enter. And that is the reason why I continue designing and thinking about spaces to live in.”
Materials and furnishings
Ceràmiques Ferrés. Cartabón 10/31, Lisa Verde 31.
Rovira Taps. Century collection, chrome finish.
Creative Cables. Wall lamp, pendant luminaires and light garland.
Lluria. LED strips, profiles and diffusers.
Wever & Ducré. SOLID 1.0 black downlight.
Linea Light. ORMA_AJ uplight.
Grau i Grau. Solid wood beams.
Ikea. IVAR shelving system.
persianasamedida.com. Patio awning.
Elica. Induction hob – NT ONE BL/F/83 PX.
Future Euro Trade. Glass blocks.
Project: Casa Oasis.
Programme: Single-family home with garage, workshop, kitchen, laundry room, two bathrooms, three bedrooms, an interior patio and an outdoor terrace.
Location: L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona).
Architecture: Marbä artquitectura.
Lead architect: Júlia Marbà Prats.
Completed: 2023. New intervention: 2025.
Built area: 350 m².
Photography: Alejandro Gómez Vives.
Text: Júlia Marbà Prats.
Translation: Exágono.
Júlia Marbà Prats
The professional path of Júlia Marbà Prats has been shaped from an early conviction: architecture is not merely a technical discipline, but a way of seeing, inhabiting, and transforming everyday life. She graduated in Architecture in 2020 from La Salle – Ramon Llull University, and soon expanded her education towards the artistic and cultural fields. His Erasmus stay in Hamburg sparked a deep interest in the arts, which upon her return to Barcelona led her to combine the final years of her architecture degree with studies in Art History at the University of Barcelona. This dual perspective—technical and humanistic—continues to define her approach to design.
After completing her studies, she began a diverse professional phase, collaborating with various architecture practices and construction companies specialising in sustainability and timber construction systems. This period was key in consolidating her sensitivity towards bioclimatic architecture and in raising her awareness of the environmental impact inherent to the construction sector, understanding the architectural project as an ethical position as much as a formal one.
The studio that decisively marked her professional journey was Alventosa Morell Arquitectes, where she worked for three years. There, she learned to think about housing through care, rigour, and coherence between concept, materiality, and use. Homes with a strong identity, deeply liveable and firmly committed to sustainability, conceived through an honest architecture attentive to its context. Júlia openly acknowledges herself as a disciple of the studio, which she defines as her true professional school, and whose founders she considers her architectural “parents”.
In parallel, for six years she served as coordinator of the cultural project 48h Open House Barcelona, an experience that broadened her understanding of the city from within: its buildings, its authors, and above all the historical and social layers that have shaped Barcelona’s exceptional architectural and urban quality. This learning process reinforced her interest in rehabilitation and in the dialogue between past and present.
She currently runs her own practice, Marbä artquitectura, where she focuses mainly on comprehensive renovations, with particular attention to energy improvement and an architecture of marked Mediterranean essence. Her projects are grounded in a recognisable material palette—glazed ceramics, terracotta tiles, brick, natural wood—and engage in dialogue with the architectural tradition of Barcelona from the 1960s and 1970s, reinterpreted through a contemporary and conscious lens.
Among her earliest influences is the architecture of her own school years, the Garbí School in Esplugues de Llobregat, designed by Oriol Bohigas—a reference that encapsulates her understanding of architecture: rigorous yet approachable, conceived to be lived in and capable of creating lasting emotional bonds. “Mediterráneamente” is the motto of her studio, both a cultural nod and a declaration of intent: a way of practising architecture that remains difficult to categorise, yet deeply rooted in place, climate, and people.
Marbä artquitectura
Santa Eulàlia, 42
08902 L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona)
hola@marbaestudi.com
www.marbaestudi.com
@marba.artquitectura
Project by Júlia Marbà Prats
