Ström Architects reduces Barcelona House "to its most essential elements" [View all]

https://www.dezeen.com/2025/09/11/barcelona-house-strom-architects/











A fully-glazed corner offers panoramic views of Barcelona and the Balearic Sea at this coastal home, designed by UK studio Ström Architects as a reference to California's modernist Case Study Houses. Named Barcelona House, the home was created for a client who tasked the studio with taking a "quiet luxury approach", creating spaces that focus attention on the surrounding views rather than the architecture itself.













"The idea was not to add unnecessary layers of detail or distraction, but instead to reduce the house to its most essential elements," studio founder Magnus Ström told Dezeen. "The experience of being there becomes about light, horizon, and the relationship between inside and outside," he added. "We designed everything so that the transition between the interior and exterior feels effortless, almost like one continuous space."













Restrictions on Barcelona House's footprint led to the creation of a two-storey structure that is partially buried into the sloping site. This led Ström Architects to organise the home with an "upside-down" layout, with guest bedrooms on the lower level. The main bedroom and living area occupy the expansive upper level, benefitting from panoramic sea views and opening onto a terrace with an infinity pool through sliding doors.













"This [upper] level has the character of a single-storey pavilion, floating at the top of the site, with long, open spaces that flow straight onto terraces," Ström told Dezeen. "Below, tucked into the slope, are the secondary bedrooms and the more practical parts of the house, such as the plant room and a generously sized garage for the client's vehicles," he continued. "From above, you don't feel this lower level at all – the experience for visitors is one of arriving at a simple, elegant house with everything on a single plane."

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