Mesura furnishes Casa Vasto apartment with “constellation of objects”
CategoriesInterior Design

Mesura furnishes Casa Vasto apartment with “constellation of objects”

Local studio Mesura has designed a live-work home for a gallery owner that combines exhibition space with living quarters in a former factory in Barcelona.

Casa Vasto is situated in the city’s seaside neighbourhood El Poblenou, characterised by its 18th-century industrial buildings that were deindustrialised in the 1960s and 70s.

Vasto gallery by Mesura apartment interior
Unfurnished areas serve as exhibition space

The apartment is located in one of these former factories and comprises two spaces – the public living and kitchen area that also houses gallery exhibitions, and the private bedroom and bathroom that are reserved solely for the owner’s use.

A service core made from birch wood divides the space without being attached to the walls or to the ceiling, which has an unusual vaulted design characteristic of factories built in Barcelona in the 19th century. This channels services to the kitchen and bathroom components and contains a toilet, shower and storage.

Vasto gallery by Mesura apartment interior
Bespoke furniture sits alongside design classics

On one side of the core is the living and gallery space. This has plenty of space to hold exhibitions and is filled with monolithic furnishings that create functional zones, including a long dining table with cylindrical legs and a blocky stainless-steel kitchen island.

A low, sprawling sofa defines the lounge area, which centres around a coffee table fashioned from waste material created during the apartment’s construction by designer Sara Regal.

Vasto gallery by Mesura apartment interior
Low-lying furnishings underline the height of the space and the unique ceiling

Artworks and furniture have been arranged throughout the space, which was curated in collaboration between the owners and Mesura.

“The project’s interior design is reinterpreted as a constellation of unique objects detached from the apartment’s limits,” said Mesura.

“These elements contrast with the white-washed walls and light-wood furnishings to emerge as accents of colour and form, weaving a cohesive and contemporary identity throughout the project, drawing focus to the pieces and artwork.”

Vasto gallery by Mesura apartment interior
The minimalistic kitchen unit shares the central core’s oblong profile

Bespoke pieces custom-made for Casa Vasto are flanked by iconic design classics, such as architect Mies van der Rohe’s MR10 Chair and architect Mario Botta’s Seconda Chai.

“Some of the interior pieces were specifically designed for the space – kitchen, dining table, service core, bathtub – and the others – sofas, chairs, lighting – were more of a process with the clients, who had their own preferences and interests,” Mesura told Dezeen.

Frames are hung on the walls in the bedroom, which also contains two sinks and a bathtub encased in blocky concrete volumes.

As in the rest of the space, rectangular windows extend from floor level to let natural light into the space.

Vasto gallery by Mesura apartment interior
The bed, bath and sink unit are all custom-made for the project

“We think the pieces selected for the interiors create a comfortable and unique atmosphere when in touch with the bespoke furniture we designed for the project,” the studio told Dezeen.

Other adaptive reuse apartment projects on Dezeen include an apartment in a converted bank office by Puntofilipino and a flat in a former chocolate factory by SSdH.

The photography is by Salva López.

Reference

Casa Dosmurs by Mesura “disappears entirely from the street’s view”
CategoriesArchitecture

Casa Dosmurs by Mesura “disappears entirely from the street’s view”

Spanish studio Mesura has created a brick and concrete house that steps down a steep hill and features giant windows that frame the surrounding Mediterranean landscape.

Named Casa Dosmurs, the home is designed to blend in with its site in the residential area of Alella in Catalonia, Spain, with its flat roof the only part visible from the adjacent street.

Casa Dosmurs' flat roof in Alella, Spain by Mesura
Mesura has completed Casa Dosmurs in Spain

“The house is set apart from the street and adjacent constructions by hiding between two bare walls that follow the site’s abrupt slope,” said architecture studio Mesura.

“Thus, the house disappears entirely from the street’s view.”

Interior of brick and concrete living room by Mesura
At the core of the house is a double-height living space

Casa Dosmurs comprises a spacious open-plan living and dining area, alongside two bedrooms. It is designed by Mesura to have an “​​honest” aesthetic, achieved using common structural materials such as brick and prefabricated concrete panels that are left exposed inside.

“Following the idea of ​​’honest architecture’, where we show how the house has been built, all the concrete structure is left visible,” the studio told Dezeen.

Upper level of Casa Dosmurs by Mesura
Giant windows frame the Mediterranean landscape

While it is concealed from view on one side, the home opens up to the sea on the other through its wide windows. The glazing extends up from the double-height living area to the mezzanine level above where the two bedrooms are found.

Connected to a private garden, the two bedrooms can be totally or partially closed off with folding wooden partitions that Mesura designed to cater for different levels of privacy, light and ventilation.

Bedroom with floor mattress and brick walls
The bedrooms connect to a garden

Inside, Casa Dosmurs’ internal walls are covered by bricks with vertical cuts on their surface and with varying rotations in some places for a playful finish.

Minimalist furniture is dotted throughout, with pieces by local companies including rug brand Nanimarquina and lighting brand Santa&Cole, and Barcelona-based furniture and product designer Max Enrich.

Living room featuring minimalist furniture inside Casa Dosmurs
Bricks and concrete are left exposed throughout

According to the studio, the home was assembled on-site in just three days thanks to the prefabricated concrete panels, which also helped minimise material waste.

“Working with a structural system made in the workshop was for three reasons,” explained Mesura.

“For the precision of its execution in the workshop, the efficiency in assembling the house on a very difficult terrain due to its slope and quality of the land, and for the reduction of material,” added the studio.

Casa Dosmurs is complete with a flat roof that acts as an open terrace overlooking the landscape.

Metallic chair next to a window in Spanish house by Mesura
Minimalist furniture features throughout

Mesura is an architecture studio based in Barcelona that was founded in 2010 by Benjamin Iborra Wicksteed and Carlos Dimas Carmona.

Previous projects by the studio include a house extension with a scalloped roofline and a concrete and stone home bisected by an outdoor terrace.

The photography is by Maxime Delvaux.

Reference