Hotel in Barcelona. Restoration, Design and Technology for Comfort in the frenzy of the City

With a focus on noise abatement and using technology to "design" a large façade, Architect Daniel Isern has redesigned a 1970s building in the heart of Barcelona's Eixample district

The new Ohla Hotel is located in the heart of Barcelona's Eixample district, in what was once a palace constructed in the 1970s. Built on a subsoil of subway and railway tunnels, one of the main problems to be addressed was in fact the noise levels, so the designers had to find the ideal system to ensure the comfort of guests

To achieve this, state-of-the-art technology was used to put an end to vibration and noise. This involved the dissection of the existing pillars, the installation of seismic shock absorbers and the raising of the building with hydraulic jacks so that the hotel would be suspended, away from vibrations

The facade is composed of 800 pieces of different sizes that make up a vast puzzle of vertical ceramic modules that blur the sequence and number of floors. The façade also has five large wooden frames: they are actually balconies that break the lines of the façade. This graphical combination of ceramic and wood animates the high façade, which would otherwise be too monumental and static

For the workable openings, Wicona concealed guillotine windows from the Wicline Evo 75 series were used to further complement the graphic effect and further enhance the impression of verticality. This system provides performance levels that create maximum thermal and acoustic comfort in each of the hotel's 97 rooms

The high size of the façade is almost invisible, because the view is lost in the graphic details, which are nothing more than "technological" choices: when technology and design complement each other to create a balanced Architecture