Crumbling brick surfaces hint at the rich past of this triplex apartment in Barcelona, designed by architect Valentí Albareda with arch-shaped openings and warm oak floors.

The three-floor apartment is set within a former warehouse in Barcelona's up-and-coming Sant Antoni neighbourhood.
Originally built in the early 1900s, the building was first used to store bananas that were shipped over from the Canary Islands, before it was partially destroyed by a number of air raids during the Spanish civil war.
Locally-based architect Valentí Albareda has converted the site into living quarters for a young couple hailing from Ibiza and Dubai.

"From the beginning, the project brief was to improve the use and quality of this [building], and create flexible spaces without enclosing them into conventional room types," he explained. "The result is a dwelling that fulfils [the inhabitant's] necessities, while respecting the original space's soul."

Albareda and his team began by making a series of structural changes to make the building seem more liveable. The rear wall of the existing basement has been punctuated with a pair of vaulted openings to reveal a small indoor courtyard.

Dressed with a handful of potted plants, this space is topped by a panel of gridded metal that allows day light to filter through from the upper reaches of the property.

A section of the attic floor ? which has largely been reconstructed with steel ? has been removed to make room for ...