{"id":55447,"date":"2026-01-27T16:48:38","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T16:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/el-sueno-cumplido-de-la-joven-arquitecta-julia-marba-prats-construir-su-propia-casa-taller-para-ella-su-pareja-y-su-nino\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T18:08:37","modified_gmt":"2026-01-27T18:08:37","slug":"the-fulfilled-dream-of-young-architect-julia-marba-prats-building-her-own-home-studio-for-herself-her-partner-and-their-child","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/the-fulfilled-dream-of-young-architect-julia-marba-prats-building-her-own-home-studio-for-herself-her-partner-and-their-child\/","title":{"rendered":"The fulfilled dream of young architect J\u00falia Marb\u00e0 Prats: building her own home-studio for herself, her partner and their child"},"content":{"rendered":"

Those who follow Ex\u00e1gono magazine and our social media channels know how much we enjoy showcasing the work of those \u201cyoung voices writing the future.\u201d Thanks to them, we can look towards the horizon with hope. Today we present a project by the youngest member of this collective: J\u00falia Marb\u00e0 Prats, who, at just 25 years old, developed the design and construction of her own home-studio. I invited J\u00falia 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.<\/em>
Andr\u00e9s Moratinos<\/p>\n\n

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..<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u2014they 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\u2014anything\u2014to 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a neighbourhood of L\u2019Hospitalet de Llobregat\u2014where part of my family lives and where I spent my first year of life\u2014we 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.<\/p>\n\n\n

That is where the adventure began<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

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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\u2019t 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\u2014if possible\u2014quiet. All of this while bearing in mind that L\u2019Hospitalet is one of the most densely populated cities in Europe, and that the former bazaar was located on one of its main streets.<\/p>\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n

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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\u2014who is now four months old\u2014will draw when he is asked to draw his home at school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s 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\u2019t see it\u2014or didn\u2019t need it\u2014until we had lived there for some time.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u2014from both people within the architectural world and those outside it\u2014has 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.”<\/p>\n\n\n

Materials and furnishings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Cer\u00e0miques Ferr\u00e9s. Cartab\u00f3n 10\/31, Lisa Verde 31.<\/em>
Rovira Taps. Century collection, chrome finish.<\/em>
Creative Cables. Wall lamp, pendant luminaires and light garland.<\/em>
Lluria. LED strips, profiles and diffusers.<\/em>
Wever & Ducr\u00e9. SOLID 1.0 black downlight.<\/em>
Linea Light. ORMA_AJ uplight.<\/em>
Grau i Grau. Solid wood beams.<\/em>
Ikea. IVAR shelving system.<\/em>
persianasamedida.com. Patio awning.<\/em>
Elica. Induction hob \u2013 NT ONE BL\/F\/83 PX.<\/em>
Future Euro Trade. Glass blocks.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

Project<\/strong><\/strong>: Casa Oasis.\u2028
Programme<\/strong>: Single-family home with garage, workshop, kitchen, laundry room, two bathrooms, three bedrooms, an interior patio and an outdoor terrace.
Location<\/strong><\/strong>: L\u2019Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona).
Architecture<\/strong><\/strong>: Marb\u00e4 artquitectura<\/a>.\u2028
Lead architect<\/strong><\/strong>: J\u00falia Marb\u00e0 Prats.
Completed<\/strong><\/strong>: 2023. New intervention: 2025.
Built area<\/strong><\/strong>: 350 m\u00b2.
Photography<\/strong><\/strong>: Alejandro G\u00f3mez Vives<\/a>.\u2028
Text<\/strong><\/strong>: J\u00falia Marb\u00e0 Prats.
Translation<\/strong>: Ex\u00e1gono.<\/p>\n\n\n

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J\u00falia Marb\u00e0 Prats<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The professional path of J\u00falia Marb\u00e0 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 \u2013 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\u2014technical and humanistic\u2014continues to define her approach to design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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. J\u00falia openly acknowledges herself as a disciple of the studio, which she defines as her true professional school, and whose founders she considers her architectural \u201cparents\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s exceptional architectural and urban quality. This learning process reinforced her interest in rehabilitation and in the dialogue between past and present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She currently runs her own practice, Marb\u00e4 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\u2014glazed ceramics, terracotta tiles, brick, natural wood\u2014and engage in dialogue with the architectural tradition of Barcelona from the 1960s and 1970s, reinterpreted through a contemporary and conscious lens.<\/p>\n\n\n

Among her earliest influences is the architecture of her own school years, the Garb\u00ed School in Esplugues de Llobregat, designed by Oriol Bohigas\u2014a reference that encapsulates her understanding of architecture: rigorous yet approachable, conceived to be lived in and capable of creating lasting emotional bonds. \u201cMediterr\u00e1neamente\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n

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Marb\u00e4 artquitectura
<\/strong>Santa Eul\u00e0lia, 42
08902 L\u2019Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona)
hola@marbaestudi.com
www.marbaestudi.com<\/a>
@marba.artquitectura<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cCasa 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.\u201d \u2014J\u00falia Marb\u00e0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55462,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"editor_plus_copied_stylings":"{}","footnotes":"","_ppma_block_editor_authors":""},"categories":[624],"tags":[1505,2232,1989],"ppma_author":[2230],"class_list":["post-55447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-architecture","tag-housing-in-barcelona","tag-julia-marba-prats","tag-residential-architecture-en"],"acf":[],"authors":[{"term_id":2230,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"julia-marba-prats","display_name":"J\u00falia Marb\u00e0 Prats","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","avatar_alt":"","avatar_decorative":"","author_category":"","first_name":"","last_name":"","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55447"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55447\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55471,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55447\/revisions\/55471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55447"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exagono.es\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=55447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}