In this apartment in Barcelona’s Eixample, Àbag Studio develops an open, tactile and Mediterranean interior architecture

In Barcelona’s Eixample, an apartment with Catalan vaulted ceilings and arched walnut joinery has undergone a full renovation by Àbag Studio. The project, led by Abel Pérez Gabucio, works from the existing architecture to propose an open, tactile and contemporary interior, where the materials take on the narrative lead.

The commission came from Adam and Julia, a couple who, after years spent between London and New York, chose Barcelona to settle down. They wanted a home designed for sharing and entertaining friends, where urban energy could coexist with a more unhurried way of living. That specific brief shapes every decision in the project.

Original elements preserved

The intervention preserves the original features: the Catalan vaulted ceilings remain exposed, and the arched walnut joinery is integrated into the whole as part of the home’s own architectural language. Àbag Studio works from the building’s identity, adding a new layer that extends its reading and gives it continuity.

The palette is almost monochromatic. Travertine, microcement, walnut and raw linen form a neutral, warm base onto which two pieces of greater chromatic intensity are introduced: the Julep sofas by Tacchini, in emerald green velvet, which visually organise the living room with their soft, substantial volume; and the green onyx, selected directly from the quarry by the studio, which appears in the bathrooms as the densest material in the scheme.

The living area brings together kitchen, dining room and sitting room in a fluid continuum. The kitchen takes the form of a sculptural piece: relief-textured wooden panels, a travertine island with rounded corners, a continuous Pavidnus floor finish. A suspended fireplace, designed with Barcelona studio Marlot Baus, defines the focal point of the space and organises it without dividing it.

Exposed interior architecture

Part of the interior architecture remains intentionally exposed. Àbag Studio incorporates the structural as a compositional element, modulated here with organic forms and warm materials. Linen curtains by Gancedo filter natural light and reinforce the domestic, unhurried character of the space. The apartment also extends outward through a terrace and a balcony with open views over Barcelona.

In the main suite, a freestanding bathtub framed by an arch opens onto a sauna and hammam. The bathrooms are clad in green onyx with Hotbath copper fittings, where the material intensity reaches its peak. Stone-clad wardrobes, made by specialist craftspeople, and a set of domestic-scale decisions — among them a corner designed for Julia’s cats, discreetly integrated into the architecture — give the private zone its most distinctive character.

The project incorporates commissioned works alongside Galería Alzueta and artist Stan Van Steendam, and on the terrace a Nolla mosaic designed specifically for the home revisits local ceramic tradition with a contemporary vocabulary. Lighting by Flos, Santa & Cole and Foscarini, and pieces from brands such as Ferm Living, Hay and Sarah Lavoine complete an interior where every element reflects a considered choice.

The Córcega project builds its case through the accumulation of precise decisions. In this home, every material, every form and every scale has a reason that the project makes legible. The result is a contemporary Mediterranean interior — open, sensorial and well executed — reflecting the standard of interior design that Abel Pérez Gabucio has made his own.

Project: Córcega, Barcelona.

Type: Vivienda privada.
Studio: Àbag Studio.
Creative direction: Abel Pérez Gabucio.
Main materials: Travertine, green onyx, microcement, solid walnut Flooring: Pavidnus.
Custom furniture: Marlot Baus.
Furniture: Tacchini, Flos, Santa & Cole, Foscarini, Gancedo, Hotbath, Zieta.
Art: Galería Alzueta. Stan Van Steendam.
Wellness: Sauna y hammam.
Photography: Eugeni Pons.

Àbag Studio

Abel Pérez Gabucio (Barcelona, 1979) has developed his professional career from a position that bridges architecture and interior design, understood as a single design practice. Trained as a technical architect at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya and with a placement at VIA University, his early career is linked to large-scale practices such as IDOM and, later, the Jordà & Guasch studio. In this context he developed a solid technical foundation and a precise understanding of the construction process, which he later brought to a more domestic scale and to closer, more direct relationships with clients.

In 2008 he founded Abag Studio in Barcelona, beginning an independent practice defined by attention to detail, material continuity and a clear commitment to building liveable spaces from everyday experience. The studio focuses its work on housing and residential interiors, approaching each commission as an opportunity to organise, simplify and bring coherence to existing spaces. View full biography.

Project by Abel Pérez Gabucio. Àbag Studio