Raúl Sánchez restores a former washerwomen's house in Barcelona

Barcelona's growth owes something to its washerwomen. The linen of the Catalan bourgeoisie was scrubbed and rinsed in the wells of Calle Aiguafreda, and on that street architect Raúl Sánchez has restored Casa de las Lavanderas, a narrow two-storey house that once sheltered washerwomen and their families. It is now home to a couple with a newborn baby.

The house runs between Calle Aiguafreda and Calle Granollers, with a 1.5m drop between the two, so you enter at mid-level on the 40 sq m ground floor. One staircase leads down and another climbs to the bedrooms and bathroom. At the centre is a lightwell in glossy cobalt-blue lacquer, topped with an openable skylight that sends sun into the half-sunken rooms. Sánchez says this well of light is what "creates the entire project", a modern echo of the old wells.

Downstairs is open-plan living, dining and kitchen, divided by folding doors of wood and rice paper, a favourite of the client, who once lived in Japan, and a nod to the screens that split the old washrooms. Terracotta, glazed tiles and reddish lacquers recall the clay of nearby orchards.

It is a private home, and the interior is only the first phase; a garden redesign is still under way. A good read for anyone who likes history carried lightly.

Our summary of a story from Wallpaper*, published 5 November 2026. Read the original

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