In a 1920 building in Valencia’s Eixample district, a typical through-apartment had gradually lost part of its character after successive renovations removed original elements such as the hydraulic tile floors. Despite this, the dwelling retained its original structure: a labyrinthine and overly compartmentalized layout, with interior rooms lacking natural light and ventilation.
The project stems from the desire to truly inhabit this home again — not only updating it functionally, but endowing it with a renewed identity capable of transforming the way it is lived. From the outset, the brief was clearly defined by the owner’s lifestyle. A passionate cook and frequent host, he envisioned his home as a place of gathering. He imagined himself cooking while some friends accompanied him with a glass of wine, others conversed in the living room, and aromas, sounds, and glances connected the different spaces. The kitchen, therefore, had to become the true heart of the house.
At the same time, there was a practical need: the night area had to be independent from the rest of the home. The dwelling needed to be open and social, yet also capable of offering privacy.
The architectural response begins by understanding the house as a sequence rather than a collection of rooms. The plan is reorganized into three programmatic bands, placing the kitchen at the center as the articulating core. Rather than a closed room, it becomes a transitional space that orders and connects, subtly separating public and private realms. Access to the bedrooms is concentrated at a single point, allowing the night area to be isolated when necessary without sacrificing overall spatial continuity.
From this idea of transition emerges the project’s main architectural gesture: a series of extruded arches forming barrel vaults. These elements not only structure the space, but also accompany movement and guide the journey through the home. Corridors disappear, traditional compartmentalization dissolves, and the space begins to flow.
Each vault assumes a specific role within this sequence. The first, more contained, creates an independent niche housing a workspace and library. The second matches the full length of the kitchen, defining its most functional zone and turning it into the true stage of domestic life. The third extends toward the night area and, while still part of the central space, acts as a distribution axis, concentrating access to the bedrooms.
The curved forms envelop the user, intensify spatial depth, and enhance the entry of natural light. Through compression and expansion of scale, they enrich the spatial experience and even modify the acoustics, reinforcing the singular character of the kitchen. The dialogue between these vaults and the original timber beam-and-vault floor structure — left exposed in the living-dining area — establishes a balance between new and existing, between precise geometry and the constructive memory of the building.
The night area is resolved with clarity and calm: a main bedroom with an en-suite bathroom and a guest bedroom with a separate full bathroom, both oriented toward the inner courtyard. Here, material continuity reinforces the sense of unity.
Materiality follows the same logic of precision and coherence. The palette is concise, based on a limited number of carefully selected materials. Natural oak flooring and sand tones — expressed through paint, clay plaster, and lacquered finishes — create a neutral backdrop that enhances the presence of Red Alicante marble, the protagonist in the kitchen and the main bedroom.
Small-format porcelain tiles, measuring 6 x 6 cm, play an essential role: they become the unit of measurement that modulates the entire geometry of the dwelling. Walls and ceilings were set out from the outset to ensure that surfaces always begin and end with full pieces. On site, the measuring tape and laser gave way to a handcrafted ruler made of 20 tiles, guaranteeing precise execution.
In the night area, this same porcelain tile clads both the interior and exterior surfaces of the volumes containing the bathrooms. Inside, it shapes floors, wall finishes, and washbasins; outside, it extends across walls, wardrobe doors, and open dressing areas, generating visual continuity and reinforcing the project’s identity.
The result is a home in which the kitchen occupies not only the physical center of the plan, but also the symbolic center of domestic life — a continuous and fluid space that transforms a fragmented layout into a cohesive spatial experience.
Team:
Architects: Montoliu Hernandez
Author: Juan Montoliu
Photographer: Adrián Mora Maroto
Materials Used:
natural oak parquet — flooring in dry areas
6 × 6 cm porcelain tile — flooring and walls in wet areas
clay plaster — wall finish in dry areas
lacquered MDF — custom-made cabinetry
Red Alicante marble — kitchen countertops
Floatation suspended lamp — Ingo Maurer
Taccia Small lamp, Parentesi lamp — Flos
Tesi flexible steel wall-mounted strip light — Ideal Lux
Utrecht Armchair by Gerrit Thomas Rietveld — Cassina
Standard Chair — Vitra
Midst Table — Muuto
mid-century vintage furniture — Heirloom Store
8 Bar Stool by Marc Morro — HAY
small-format porcelain tiles — Grespania
