1736 House: Urban Atrium Living in Barcelona

Urban Atrium Living and Mediterranean Bioclimatic Architecture in Barcelona

Located in the dense urban fabric of Barcelona, 1736 House by HARQUITECTES redefines contemporary urban living through typological clarity, material intensity, and climate-responsive design. Conceived as a family house for five or six members, the project addresses the challenge of creating generous, light-filled domestic spaces on a deep and tightly surrounded city plot, while preserving a protected historic street façade.

Reclaiming the Center: The Atrium as Spatial Engine

The project’s central architectural strategy is the transformation of the house’s core into its most valuable space. Rather than allowing the depth of the plot to result in dark, poorly ventilated interiors, the architects reintroduce the Mediterranean tradition of the interior patio. A tall, vertical atrium becomes the heart of the house, organizing circulation, light, and air while visually and climatically connecting all levels.

This central void operates as an in-between space, neither fully interior nor exterior, allowing natural light to penetrate deep into the house while promoting cross-ventilation and stack-effect cooling. A zenithal opening at the roof draws daylight downward and expels warm air upward, making the invisible dynamics of climate perceptible through architecture.

Programmatic Hierarchy and Sectional Clarity

The extensive residential program is deliberately fragmented and reorganized into a clear hierarchy. Each floor is structured around four principal rooms with greater height, spatial presence, and wooden ceilings, contrasted with secondary spaces that are lower, more compact, and mineral in character. This distinction allows the house to absorb the irregular geometry of the plot while maintaining orthogonal clarity in its main spaces.

Like an excavated architecture, shifts in direction and geometry are resolved through the thickness of the walls. The principal volumes maintain consistent dimensions across all levels, while complementary spaces adapt fluidly within the interstitial zones left between them.

Materiality, Thermal Mass, and Environmental Performance

A defining feature of 1736 House is its use of “poor” cast-in-place concrete for the structural walls. With minimal cement content and a carefully selected mix of sands and gravels, the concrete is compacted using techniques similar to rammed earth construction. The result is a robust, monolithic envelope with high thermal inertia, capable of regulating temperature, humidity, and acoustics naturally.

These massive walls are selectively hollowed to accommodate smaller, more sensitive programs, reinforcing the contrast between heavy structure and refined inhabitation. The interplay between mineral mass and warm wooden ceilings in the primary rooms enhances both comfort and spatial legibility.

Atrium and Cloister: Superimposed Archetypes

The central space evolves vertically through two powerful architectural archetypes. On the ground and first floors, the atrium forms the most collective and representative area of the house, framed by four central pillars that define a virtual courtyard around which daily life unfolds. Above, on the second floor, the atrium transforms into a cloister-like space, where circulation and shared areas surround the void rather than occupying its center.

This upper cloister prioritizes light and ventilation, expanding circulation into a collective zone shared by the bedrooms. It becomes an extension of private spaces, reinforcing a balance between individuality and communal living.

Contemporary Urban House with Mediterranean Roots

1736 House reconnects contemporary residential architecture with traditional Mediterranean models found throughout Barcelona’s historic fabric, particularly Gothic courtyards and climate-adaptive urban houses. Through its emphasis on natural light, air stratification, gravity-driven ventilation, and material honesty, the project demonstrates how dense urban living can remain generous, breathable, and deeply connected to its environment.

Rather than retreating from the city, this house embraces it: offering a resilient, bioclimatic, and spatially rich model for urban family living in the 21st century.

All photographs are works of  Adrià Goula