Bilov Penthouse
The living and dining area of this duplex penthouse located on the seafront of Barcelona has privileged views of the city.
This unique space is presided over by a spectacular spiral staircase that our studio relocated to create a more efficient and aesthetic distribution of the living and dining room.
The Bilov penthouse is a duplex house situated on the twenty-third floor of “Illa de la Llum”, one of the towers of the residential complex located in Barcelona’s Diagonal Mar.
This project enjoys a privileged panoramic view of the whole city, acquiring an interior design that is ideal for enjoying it 365 days a year. It is a home in line with the concept of condominiums imported from abroad; it is a housing complex with a swimming pool and gymnasium in communal areas.
Molins Design has been entrusted with the refurbishment and decoration of this duplex penthouse duplex with the main objective of maximising its unique sea views. For this reason, several unnecessary walls were eliminated to achieve larger spaces.
It is a concept of ‘open space’ at double height with large mirrors and windows that manage to bring in natural light, the outline of the sea and the city on the horizon, to every corner of the flat.
A living room with a view
Without a doubt, Barcelona’s seafront is one of the city’s great jewels, and being able to enjoy it from such a considerable height is a real privilege.
Light inundates every corner of the daytime area thanks to the spectacular double-height windows that line the perimeter of this large space.
From the living room and dining room you can access the terrace that extends along the entire façade of the house, providing an exceptional connection between indoors and outdoors.
"A set of catalogued lithographs by Joan Miró, on loan from the prestigious Joan Gaspar Gallery in Barcelona, adorn the walls of the space".
The owners of the house, a foreign couple who use it as a seasonal residence, had as an artistic reference the work of Joan Miró, a brilliant painter, sculptor and ceramist from Barcelona, so we decided to incorporate some of his catalogued lithographs into the interior design project, on loan from the prestigious Joan Gaspar Gallery in Barcelona.
Light, sea and art in the living room
Kitchen and stairs sketch
From the upper floor, which is accessed from the spectacular spiral staircase, we can enjoy the fantastic zenithal perspective of the living room, a space for which we decided to play chromatically between white and blue tones for the upholstery and furniture elements, thus seeking the obvious reference to the sea; the main protagonist of the ambience.
The sofa, made to measure by Molins Design and upholstered in white fabric from the British firm Osborne & Little, contrasts with the blue round rug designed by our team.
We also installed the paving and underfloor heating to make this duplex penthouse more comfortable.
A relocated spiral staircase
This duplex penthouse had a major handicap; a staircase located in the centre of the flat, which split each of the spaces in two.
At Molins Design we thought of relocating this staircase with a glass railing to the left corner of the flat, in order to create a spectacular spiral-shaped design, which becomes a fundamental element of industrial design rather than a piece of interior design.
This architectural element thus became another piece of design, almost sculptural, which maximised the use of space, but also the natural light coming from the windows.
Staircase sketch
A semi-open kitchen
At Molins Design we designed the arrangement and design of the kitchen as a space that is partially open to the living and dining room.
The water area is located in front of a large opening that communicates directly with the living room, where a practical bar with stools is located.
Thanks to this singular distribution, natural light fills the entire kitchen, both from the living area and the exit to the outdoor terrace located in the kitchen itself.
Black and white, a winning combination
We chose black and white as the main colours to design the kitchen, which was made to measure by our team.
Black is applied to the worktops in the sink and hob area, as well as the splashback that protects the wall of the cooking area, and white is used on all the cupboard and drawer fronts, as well as on the walls and ceiling.
A kitchen with views and access to the terrace
From the kitchen there is direct access to the spectacular terrace that surrounds the entire perimeter of the main floor, through fully glazed sliding doors.
The layout of the outdoor dining area in front of the kitchen facilitates communication between the two areas.
A kitchen designed as a bar
The lifestyle of the owners of this duplex flat in Diagonal Mar, a foreign couple who occasionally travel to Barcelona to enjoy its architecture, culture and extraordinary gastronomy, gives us the possibility of planning the kitchen as if it were a bar, as our clients prefer to eat lunch and dinner in the many restaurants in the city, rather than cooking at home.
For this reason, we equipped the kitchen with a large wine fridge made to measure by our team, to integrate it perfectly into the interior layout of the space.
To illuminate the bar area, we chose two designer pendant lights by Oluce.
From the spectacular spiral staircase that internally connects the two floors we access the night area, where we find a living area and office in the first place and the large suite that includes the bedroom area and a spectacular integrated bathroom.
Relaxation and office area in the upper level
This first ambiance of the upper floor is designed as a relaxation and office area, as a prelude to the spectacular en-suite bedroom.
The chaise longue, upholstered in blue, has been made to measure in Carlucci fabric, as an element that ties in the chromatic continuity of the whole house.
The custom-designed bar unit has open and closed areas to provide storage compartments without disrupting the order that characterises the entire home.
The master bedroom, with its single open space, could be a suite in a luxury hotel. The sea in the background is almost always present from this room, even when accessing the en-suite bathroom, situated halfway up with a jacuzzi, also oriented expressly to enjoy the panoramic view offered by the large windows.
The truth is that from any point in the suite you can enjoy the spectacular Barcelona skyline.
To separate the bedroom area from the bathroom, we created a made-to-measure low wall upholstered in fabric from Les Créations de la Maison.
The master bathroom, fully integrated into the bedroom, is a real spectacle in terms of layout and decoration.
The headboard of the bed acts as a low dividing wall which, on the bathroom side, houses the washbasin as a single piece with straight, clean lines, in pure white.
Integrated bathroom in the bedroom
The ‘open space’ concept is largely used in day areas to integrate the living room, dining room and kitchen into the same space.
Doing the same in a suite is quite a challenge for our team of interior designers and, in this case, the integration is spectacular and very efficient.
The use of the same materials and tones allows both rooms to share the same surface in a harmonious and balanced way.
Whirlpool bathtub
For the design of this integrated bathroom, we chose a large hydromassage bathtub in a square format, making it one of the main features of the space.
An en-suite bathroom with city views
The absence of a traditional partition wall enables the spectacular views of the sea and the Barcelona skyline to be enjoyed even from the bathroom.
Trendy wall coverings
To dress the main walls of the shower area we chose a large-format wall covering in grey tones, whose design and texture is reminiscent of the waves of the sea, as a wink to the particular location of the house.
This duplex penthouse located in Diagonal Mar in Barcelona, also has a guest bedroom with bathroom.
We designed this piece following the overall style of the whole house, in purely Mediterranean tones, with blue and white as the main protagonists.
The headboard, custom designed and upholstered by Molins Design with a fabric from the French firm Pierre Frey, runs along the main wall of the bedroom, which we decorated with different fabrics of great aesthetic value for the cushions, the plaids at the foot of the bed, the bedspreads and the curtains.
Guest bathroom
The bathroom corresponding to the guest bedroom is also used as the main bathroom of the day area.
We designed this space divided into three zones: the washbasin area, the shower area and the toilet area hidden behind a sliding translucent glass door.
Bathroom vanity unit
We added an upholstered stool under the cantilevered washbasin countertop to create a small dressing table, as a functional and decorative element.
The type of cladding chosen also stands out, inspired by the traditional ‘trencadís català’.
House Tour Bilov Penthouse
House Tour of our project Bilov Penthouse. An integral reform in a spectacular duplex penthouse in the area of Diagonal Mar in Barcelona.
Finally, we come across one of the most spectacular areas of the house: the fabulous terrace that runs around the perimeter of the ground floor of the duplex.
Thanks to its L-shaped configuration, we were able to create three perfectly differentiated ambiences: on one side, the living room and the outdoor dining room, and on the other, a solarium area with an elongated swimming pool.
Outdoor living and dining room
These two areas, located in the longest part of the spectacular terrace, are decorated in blue and white tones, as is the case with the chromatic ranges chosen to decorate the interior of the house.
In this way, the created spaces blend in with both the interior and the impressive landscape in the background.
The outdoor furniture proposed by our team for both areas is a combination of furniture from the Danish design firm Cane Line.
A pool-jacuzzi 23 storeys high
For the interior design team at Molins Design it was a real luxury to be able to create this pool-jacuzzi area in a home of these characteristics.
With privileged views of the entire city and the Mediterranean at our feet, we were able to create a spectacular solarium in which we incorporated sun loungers and native vegetation such as the olive tree that presides over this area.
In addition, the installation of Vibia’s famous Pie Tree lamps throughout the terrace allowed us to create a fabulous game of light and shadow at dusk.
