Located on one of the main avenues of the Ensanche, BAT studio has turned a historic residence of more than three hundred square meters into a contemporary space where classical spirit and technological comfort live in harmony. The project, aptly named RA Apartment, reinterprets the ornamental language of the twentieth century, transforming it into a statement of classical modernity—a synthesis of memory, innovation, and the art of living.
The building that houses the apartment, listed as a heritage site, belongs to the early twentieth-century residential architecture of Bilbao, with carved stone façades and wrought-iron balconies that evoke the industrial prosperity of the era. BAT draws from that legacy and translates it into the present, preserving the most valuable original features—moldings, noble woodwork, solid wood floors—restored with the help of local artisans, weaving upon them a new spatial narrative of soft lines and serene atmosphere.
The constraints of preservation became an opportunity. The original layout, which had to be maintained, was reinterpreted through a system of arches that reproduce the geometry of the ceilings while freeing the plan at eye level. The result is a renewed sense of openness, where light flows and spaces converse naturally with one another.
Light as material
The journey begins in a hall that acts as a prologue. A Bocci 28.13 lamp—composed of hand-blown glass spheres in shades of red, bottle green, and Bilbao blue—introduces the chromatic palette that unfolds throughout the home. From there, the arches—transformed into architectural language—guide both gaze and movement.
The large living room, bathed in natural light from the windows, is conceived as the social heart of the home. A red Ditre sofa commands the space like a sculptural centerpiece upon a neutral base of whites and woods, while mirrors and stained glass multiply the urban reflections. In continuity, the dining room features a Cattelan table beneath the Bocci 57.13 lamp, a suspended composition of glass and air that floats like a poetic installation.
The kitchen, centered around an island in Xtone Surface (Porcelanosa) and accompanied by upholstered chairs from Bonaldo Spa, opens to the dining room through curved wood-and-glass partitions that reinterpret the old separations. Every element is designed to foster conversation, everyday life, and the pleasure of inhabiting.
In the private area, the main bedroom exudes calm. Sandy tones, soft textiles, and a freestanding bathtub facing the windows compose a scene of domestic wellbeing. The en suite bathroom, defined by a block of dark marble veined with gold and Steinberg fittings, reinforces the project’s sensory character.
The home is organized as two complementary dwellings: one conceived for daily life—living room, kitchen, master suite—and another for family, with independent rooms and bathrooms. The journey culminates in a home cinema lined with Cole & Son wallpapers, where classical façades and fantastic animals add a playful note to the overall elegance.
Invisible technology
Beyond visible beauty, RA Apartment is also a project of technical precision. Underfloor heating and cooling, lighting control, audiovisual systems, and integrated comfort management are orchestrated through cutting-edge home automation—unseen yet omnipresent.
The interior design, defined by pieces from Bocci, Bonaldo, Potocco, Marset, Cattelan, Vibia, Porada, and Tooy, balances tradition and contemporaneity. Each room incorporates an accent color—red, green, or sand—serving as an emotional thread that connects the whole. Subtle indoor landscaping introduces living greenery that oxygenates the atmosphere and extends the feeling of continuity.
Modernity with a Bilbao soul
“This project is the result of a knowledgeable client who trusted us to reinterpret a classical language for the twenty-first century. The outcome is not a contemporary dwelling, but an example of classical modernity,” says Xabier Arranz, founding partner of BAT. His colleague Peru Cañada sums it up: “With RA Apartment, BAT reinforces its vision—to innovate with respect for context, to offer comprehensive management that combines creativity and technique, and to design spaces that study human behavior and elevate the experience of living.”
The project encapsulates the studio’s philosophy: to act upon memory without nostalgia, to design with emotion, to build with precision. RA Apartment is an ode to Bilbao’s elegance, to the craft of architecture, and to the timeless beauty of well-conceived spaces.
Project: RA Apartment.
Location: Calle Rodríguez Arias (Bilbao).
Area: 305 m2.
Completed: 2024.
Interior Architecture: BAT.
Photography: Erlantz Biderbost.
Source: BAT.
BAT
In the city of Bilbao —a place that has learned to reinvent itself from its own industrial matter and its watery horizon— BAT – Bilbao Architecture Team emerges as a contemporary and sensitive response to the way of making architecture. Founded in 2012 by architects Peru Cañada and Xabier Arranz, the studio defines itself as a transdisciplinary practice that integrates architecture, urbanism, interior design, landscape, and product design, understood as one single conversation: that of the space we inhabit and the future we wish to build.
From its manifesto —Building, Crafting, Dreaming. Building Futures— BAT claims architecture as a craft, both intellectual and manual, where every line rests on reflection and every detail takes form through the precision of well-executed work. Its gaze moves seamlessly from the urban to the human scale, from the vibration of matter to the narrative of place.
The studio conceives each project as an opportunity to positively transform people’s lives and their surroundings. There is no neutral gesture, no innocent construction: every intervention, no matter how small, leaves a trace that can influence future generations. For this reason, their approach combines social sensitivity with technological innovation, energy efficiency with spatial quality, and community dialogue with aesthetic ambition.
From its headquarters in Bilbao —and with a presence in Madrid and London— BAT develops projects across diverse fields such as housing, education, healthcare, culture, and tourism. Its architecture is versatile and conscious, attuned to the rhythms of the territory and the spirit of each client. But beyond form, what truly defines its work is an attitude: the will to build community, to weave connections, to understand that architecture is —above all— a tool for a shared future.
Peru Cañada and Xabier Arranz, founders of BAT, embody a dual vision that has allowed the studio to evolve into a practice both solid and open in identity.
Peru Cañada, a strategist with an artisan’s spirit, leads the studio with a collaborative vision that sees design as a collective process. His earlier career, linked to large-scale projects —educational facilities, healthcare centers, social housing— reveals a remarkable ability to articulate complexity and emotion, technique and humanity. At BAT, he drives a constant search for new ways of thinking and building, exploring territories that transcend the traditional limits of architecture.
For his part, Xabier Arranz brings a complementary, precise, and pragmatic perspective that has been essential to the team’s consolidation and international reach. His background in architecture, consulting, and contract project management strengthens the business and operational dimension of the studio, ensuring that every idea translates into a tangible reality consistent with BAT’s values. With extensive experience in team sports, he instills strong values within the firm —empathy, emotional intelligence, and teamwork— standing out as a motivating and joyful leader within BAT.
Together, Cañada and Arranz have shaped a studio that does not merely design spaces: it designs futures. BAT is a community of thought —an alliance between creativity and responsibility, between matter and dream.
Project by BAT
