Cugat Natura Residential, an old people’s home featuring apartments for ‘cool’ spirited elderly.

'Like being at home, but with the comfort of included amenities', reads the presentation of Cugat Natura Residential, a 32 apartment complex for the elderly in Sant Cugat del Vallés (Barcelona). What they don't mention is that the apartments are also a well-being design environment, featuring a modern, clean interiors with a careful selection of the pieces of furniture.

Interior designers Miriam Castells and Marta Bartolomé were in charge of leading the team that was able to provide with character a space in which functionality comes first.

Layout, furniture and lighting pursue to making their residents’ everyday life easier, also looking for their maximum comfort.

The result is a very luminous space, which in this case was achieved by using light tones for the walls and a master design of the artificial lighting.

The whole aesthetics is clean and simple. Walls have been left almost untouched, only occasionally lined with materials such as concrete or wood in shared areas or tile flooring in other common spaces. The final result is a clearly neutral space which, in the case of the apartments, allow every resident enough room for own equipment.

The choice of colours continues on the same neutral line. Grey and brown for most of the furniture, white in the kitchens, bathrooms and transit areas, and light-toned wood. To avoid the dullness some splashes of colour have been introduced mostly through blue, green and yellow textiles. A palette that extends to the common areas, in which the green of the plants decorating shelves and walls also stands out.

The pieces of furniture follow the same simple lines, mixing modern style with a few other of a more traditional design, but all of them with a current taste.

The common area is an open space that is articulated through different scenarios: the reading, screening and internet rooms. The transitions are noticed by light and texture. Lighting has been applied using a great variety of lamps, making special emphasis on the lights in the ceiling of the common spaces.

The center is right across the Sant Cugat golf club and has a gym, a wellness center and a minimarket. Services like wi-fi, parking, storage-room and specially adapted bathroom are included in every apartment, as well as cleaning, laundry, social club and medical and therapeutical assistance.

Photo credits: Olga Planas