Spanning nearly 3,000 square meters, the building has been meticulously restored by a team led by architect Claudio Hernández and interior designer Isabel López Vilalta, in collaboration with local archaeologists, restorers, and artisans. More than a real estate project, Can Armengol is a statement of intent: to protect, reinterpret, and enhance Mallorcan architecture with respect and restraint.

The mediterranean home: a way of living

Among the seven residences within the complex, one—known as Apartment 8—has been conceived as a model home, embodying the project’s essence. Here, the Mediterranean home is more than inspiration; it’s a way of living. Open spaces, double-height ceilings, natural light filtered through skylights, and a seamless flow between the library, kitchen, dining, and living areas create a serene atmosphere deeply connected to its surroundings.

The intervention avoids any grandiose gestures. Original elements in good condition—hydraulic tiles, period doors, wooden structures—have been preserved, and local materials have been carefully selected: handmade terracotta, lime-washed walls, stone countertops, and oak and talc-finished woodwork. Every detail speaks a language of understated sophistication, balancing memory and modernity.

The furnishings combine pieces by renowned 20th-century Spanish designers—Miguel Milá, Àngel Jové—with Mallorcan antiques sourced from local dealers, such as writing desks and handcrafted tables. Artworks by artists like Jaume Roig, Guillem Nadal, and Antonia Ferrer bridge tradition and contemporary expression. Each corner of the apartment seems to suspend time, inviting a more contemplative, authentic way of life.

Project: Can Armengol, apartamento 08
Interior design: Isabel López Vilalta + Asociados
Team: Isabel López Vilalta, Anna Kazachkova, Nina Sundberg 
Surface area: 215 m²  interior + 76 m² terraza
Architect: Caudio Hernández Alcover
Construction: Profutur 2002.
Engineering: Lasca.
Photography: Salva López.
Vídeo: Ricard López.
Furniture: Custom-designed pieces by the studio and brands such as By Blasco, Arxe, Fredericia, Gervasoni, Maxalto, among others, supplied by Ff&E.
Technical lighting: Ca2L.
Decorative lighting: Original pieces by Miguel Milà and Àngel Jové, sourced from Palau de Casavells. 
Art: Works by Manolo Ballesteros, Bruno Ollé , Aythami Armas y Jaume Roig, all from Miquel Alzueta Gallery. 

Isabel López Vilalta: one of the leading voices in contemporary Spanish interior design

Discreet yet impactful, Isabel López Vilalta is one of the leading voices in contemporary Spanish interior design. Educated at Barcelona’s Elisava School, her early career included work with renowned designer Pepé Cortés and a long-standing collaboration with Sandra Tarruella. Since 2009, she has forged her own path, establishing a distinctive style characterized by warmth, balance, and a deep sensitivity to context and people.

Her projects often focus on public spaces—restaurants, hotels, retail—with iconic works like Café Schilling, El Japonés, Hotel del Teatre, Hotel EME in Seville, and the Santa Caterina Market restaurant in Barcelona. In each, she has infused a unique blend of Mediterranean sobriety and contemporary refinement.

Her work has garnered prestigious awards, including the ADI-FAD Silver Delta, the Saloni Award, and the Best of Year Award from Interior Design magazine in New York. Beyond accolades, her commitment to the profession is evident in her roles as educator and jury member in design competitions, consistently advocating for the importance of craftsmanship and attention to detail.

In Can Armengol, her sensitivity unfolds without ostentation, reflecting the maturity of someone deeply attuned to materials, light, and the soul of spaces. It’s an intervention that listens rather than imposes; one that honors the past while gracefully guiding it into the present with intelligence and beauty.

Source: Isabel López Vilalta y Decomunica.

Following the natural profile of the terrain and with the aim of establishing a close relationship with the exterior, the house is designed in a staggered form, adapted to the topography and distributed over different levels without losing sight of the regulations governing this area in terms of volumes, composition of openings and finishes of the buildings, which must basically consist of a main body with a substantially rectangular ground plan, simple volumetry and a sloping roof finished in traditional ceramic tiles.

Two independent zones

The architects designed the house with the possibility of two different families living together, as the guests’ stays are frequent and prolonged over time. For this reason, two independent private areas were designed, each consisting of a master bedroom, an adjoining room for multipurpose use and a bathroom, in addition to the usual communal spaces: living room, kitchen, etc…

The floor plan of the building is almost square, as can be seen in the attached plans. The spaces for private use, for hosts and guests, identical in layout and size, are arranged on adjoining sides of the floor plan to ensure the independence they need. These are separated by the shared spaces, organised along a diagonal axis oriented towards the views, which crosses the floor plan and ends in the living room.

Three courtyards are also planned on the façade as transition spaces between the interior and the exterior. One of them is covered with a lightweight structure that will allow vegetation to climb through it, generating a living shaded space that is protected and integrated into the envelope of the house. Each master bedroom has direct access from one of the courtyards, facilitating alternative itineraries that reinforce the independence sought for the spaces for private use.

Traditional building solutions

The structure is resolved with load-bearing walls and one-way slabs while generating the living spaces: load-bearing structure and living structure coincide. The exterior neutrality of the volume contrasts with the dynamic interior of the house. The different levels of the floors that build the topography of the interior are accompanied by a staggered roof slabs, which are finished off with a sloping roof of Arabic tiles with a single slope parallel to that of the land. This generates an air chamber, ventilated and accessible, through which the installations will pass. As for the finishes, the load-bearing walls are rendered with lime mortar, while the beams and slabs are left exposed and uncovered to characterise the interior space.

The energy rating of the house is excellent, which is achieved by using local materials and natural resources combined with efficient installations. The building is well oriented and takes advantage of the prevailing winds, which improves natural cross ventilation. Courtyards are used as intermediate landscaped and vegetation-covered spaces. Rainwater is harnessed. The roof is ventilated, and the structure, with ceramic load-bearing walls, gives the complex high thermal inertia.

Project: Casa en Puntiró.
Architecture: Ripoll Tizón Estudio de Arquitectura.
Architects: Pep Ripoll – Juan Miguel Tizón.
Partners: Cristina Oliver (arquitecta). Sandra Bernalte (arquitecta). Maria Wolonciej (estudiante de arquitectura). Carlos Antón.
Technical architect: Toni Arqué.
Structure Calculation: Jorge Martín Ortega.
Photography: José Hevia.
Surface: 298,68 m2 (259,06 m2 sobre rasante + 39,62 m2 sótano).
Finished: 2023.
Location: Calle Llampúdol, 6. Urbanización Es Puntiró. Palma de Mallorca.

Ripoll Tizón Architecture Studio

Ripoll Tizón is an architectural studio founded in 2002 by Pep Ripoll and Juan Miguel Tizón, both architects graduated from the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona. Since 2002 they have shared a professional studio, combining the development of public and private projects with participation in national and international architectural competitions.

They have won numerous prizes in architectural competitions, including first prizes for the refurbishment of the Sa Vinyeta building in Menorca, the refurbishment of the Consejería de Salud y Consumo building and the Arquia-banca office, both in Palma, and several publicly promoted residential buildings in Mallorca and Ibiza.

Their built work has received numerous awards, including the 2015 Gubbio Prize for the best intervention in historic centres in Europe, the Ciutat de Palma Prize in 2013 and 2019, the 2013 NAN Prize for the best residential construction project, the 2013 APLUS Prize for the best architectural project for housing, the 2011-13 Mallorca Architecture Prize for the best residential work and the 2005-08 Menorca Architecture Prize for the best work. They have been finalists in the FAD Awards 2013, in the XII Spanish Architecture and Urbanism Biennial 2013, in the Ugo Rivolta European Architecture Award 2013 and 2016, in the Barbara Cappochin International Architecture Biennial 2013 and in the Mallorca Architecture Awards 2014-2016.

His work has been selected and exhibited at the International Architecture Biennale of Argentina 2016, at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2012 and widely published in leading national and international architectural publications.

Source: Ripoll Tizón Estudio de Arquitectura