’70s Redux: A Barcelona Apartment Finds Its Groove

The ’70s look has re-infiltrated the design world, and we’re not always onboard with it. This project, though, by Barcelona-based Conti Cert successfully (and subtly) channels the era by giving it a minimalist twist.

It helped that Andrea Conti and Isa Cert, the principal architects, essentially had a blank canvas to work with. The apartment, on the fifth floor of a building from the 1970s, had been remodeled, again and again, to within an inch of its life, so they opted to remove everything and start from scratch. “All the original layers were in a really bad state under the renovation layers,” they explain. The client, a young hospitality entrepreneur with whom they’d collaborated before, also gave them “complete creative freedom; his only wish was to have three sizable bedrooms and a big open space for day use.”

Left blissfully alone to do their thing, the designers went to work, creating a new layout and thoughtfully adding in the high points of ’70s interior style: earthy tones, sink-in seating, metallic surfaces, and paneled wood. Let’s take a tour.

Photography by Claudia Mauriño, courtesy of Conti Cert.

Above: “The freedom that the client gave us was translated into a beautiful new layout. It consists of 200 square meters distributed in a large common living-dining-kitchen area, and then those three large bedrooms that the owner requested.” The custom iroko wood table is by Max Enrich, chairs by Rexite, shelves by BD Barcelona, and floor lamp by Ingo Maurer.
Above: An eat-in kitchen is enclosed by a steel and glass wall, a solution that allows for both separation and open flow.

Above: A wood-paneled wall and ceiling are warm counterpoints to the metal surfaces. The glass lamp on the counter is by designer Jaume Ramírez.
Above: Open to the dining area is the living room, awash in neutral colors except for the arresting artwork by the Ritsch Sisters. Both the safari chairs and the corduroy Togo chair are vintage. (See: Trend Alert: The 1970s Togo Lounge is Today’s Flop-Down Chair of Choice.) The daybed is custom.
Above: Floor-to-ceiling drapery separates the living room from the TV room.
Above: The extra-large sofa and blue wool rug are both custom. The aluminum coffee table is by Frama.
Above: In the bedroom, simplicity reigns. A ledge-cum-headboard also serves as storage space. The step nightstand is by Max Enrich. The striped bedding is by Tekla.
Above: “We used fabric curtains in the bedrooms, which combined with the wall-to-wall carpet floors helped us create these little cocoon-style rooms that we were looking for.”

For more projects by Conti Cert, see:

• Kitchen of the Week: Hardware Store Finds and Thoughtful Storage for a Professional Chef
• Two Flats Are Turned Into One Perfect Home for a Family of Five
• Let the Light In: A Barcelona Flat, Uncramped and Rejuvenated for a Young Couple