In This 750-Square-Foot Barcelona Loft, a Statement-Making Archway Is One of the Only Partitions

From the moment you enter this Barcelona loft, you feel a certain magic in this home that architect Isern Serra created for artist Pol Solà. Located in a former warehouse area of a 1970s industrial building, the entrance to the 750-square-foot loft is through a freight elevator. When you arrive, you pass through a service area where the bathroom is located. Then, after crossing the open kitchen, you enter the main space distinguished by its open plan and a half circle archway that provides the space with its unique personality.

The challenge for Isern was to transform this apartment and its stretched-out floor plan—it was previously an office—into a functional and appealing home with its own unique character. First, he listened to his client’s wishes. Pol said he did not want any kind of divisions or separate rooms, instead he asked Isern to create the quintessential loft, completely open. “It was an office space with a couple of partitions for a meeting room and a drop ceiling. We tore it all down to create a sense of pure open space,” explains Isern. “Now it is a home meets gallery; a space where I’d like to live myself,” he adds.

With the exception of the bathroom, there are no partitions or doors and the entire apartment is filled with natural light; in Isern’s words, “natural light is life.” The only internal division is created by the half-circle arch that leads to the bedroom. “It introduces a concept of sculptural architecture, of artistic space in itself,” Isern says. “It is something dreamlike that captivates you and, at the same time, it has a functional role, separating spaces.”