5 Clever Design Decisions That Make This Slim Spanish House More Spacious

Located in an old part of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, a city next to Barcelona, within an early 20th-century protected home, Xipreret rethinks how a compact footprint can adapt to a growing family. When the current owners first purchased it before they had children, the house was heavily compartmentalised. The ground floor felt cramped, with a separate living room and kitchen, while upstairs was divided into two enclosed bedrooms. Working within the constraints of the existing heritage structure, the architects reimagined how space could flow without dramatic structural change. Walls were opened up, volumes rebalanced and storage carefully integrated to create a more fluid sequence between living, working and resting zones. A restrained palette of light microcement and clean-lined joinery now ties the levels together, allowing light to travel more freely through the long, narrow plan.

Below, we highlight five design details that reveal how thoughtful interventions — rather than major reconstruction — transformed the house into a brighter, more flexible family home.

1. A Staircase That Does More Than Just Climb
2. Light Microcement That Amplifies Brightness
‍3. An Extending Kitchen Wall
‍4. A Seamlessly Integrated Double Desk
‍5. Space-Stretching Bathroom Tiles

1. A Staircase That Does More Than Just Climb

In Xipreret’s narrow footprint, the staircase offers more than just circulation. On the ground floor, one of the lower flights extends outward to form a built-in TV console, transforming the step into an integrated media wall rather than a separate piece of furniture. Beneath the rising steps, concealed cabinetry absorbs everyday clutter, while the shift in volume naturally creates a small nook — a sheltered pocket that adds depth and a sense of intimacy to the otherwise linear ground floor. The staircase itself curves gently as it rises, softening the tight layout of the house and giving the interior a more smooth and continuous feel. A slim, minimalist railing keeps the composition light, allowing the staircase to read as airy and elegant rather than heavy. More than a way to move between levels, the stair becomes the home’s backbone — storage, display, seating and circulation wrapped into one cohesive architectural gesture.

2. Light Microcement That Amplifies Brightness

In Xiperet, where natural light only enters from limited points, material choice becomes critical. The use of light-toned microcement across floors and key surfaces helps to bounce light deep into the plan, reducing visual interruptions and creating continuity between zones. Its seamless finish avoids the visual breaks that traditional materials might introduce, allowing the eye to travel uninterrupted from one end of the house to the other. The result is a space that feels taller, calmer and more expansive than its square metres suggest.

The architects also opted for a restrained, neutral palette to avoid imposing a bold or fixed aesthetic. Instead of dictating a style, the material creates a calm backdrop — a flexible canvas that allows the owners to layer in their own personality, objects and colour over time.

3. An Extending Kitchen Wall

Running from the entrance across to the back door of the ground floor, the kitchen is designed as a long, continuous wall rather than a typical cluster of appliances. In a narrow home, the elongated gesture exaggerates depth and creates a strong visual line that pulls you through the space. The kitchen cabinets climb vertically to maximise capacity, but deliberately stop short of the ceiling. This  small move allows light to pass above the unit and maintains a sense of openness along the full length of the house. Instead of feeling boxed in, the cabinetry acts as a generous storage spine that anchors the ground floor without blocking it.

4. A Seamlessly Integrated Double Desk 

Rather than carving out a separate office zone, the architects extended the kitchen cabinetry to incorporate a double desk — a key request from the clients, so both parents could work side by side. The desk feels embedded within the architecture, not added onto it. The overhead cabinetry continues above, subtly framing the workspace and visually tying it back to the kitchen wall. The result is a compact but clearly defined work zone that remains part of the open-plan layout. By treating the desk as an extension of the storage wall, the home gains a fully functional workspace without sacrificing floor area or introducing visual clutter.

5. Space-Stretching Bathroom Tiles

In the bathroom, long-format tiles are laid vertically to draw the eye upward, subtly exaggerating the ceiling height and making the compact space feel taller and more generous. In a home where width is limited, this simple directional choice makes a noticeable difference. The layout was also carefully dimensioned to align with standard IKEA module sizes, helping to reduce costs and simplify construction. By designing within readily available measurements, the architects kept the renovation efficient without compromising the visual impact. Showing how working with standard dimensions and off-the-shelf systems can still produce a bathroom that feels custom and considered.

Together, these five design decisions show how Xipreret transforms limitation into opportunity. Rather than expanding outward, the project expands upward — using height, curvature and carefully placed storage to create a home that feels fluid and generous within its original footprint. Features like light microcement, pale finishes, clean-lined joinery and a slim, white steel stair railing quietly amplify daylight while keeping the overall composition of Xiperet calm and cohesive.

Scroll on to explore more images of the project by photographer José Hevia

and see how volume, light and movement work together to reshape this compact historic home.