When you see the design that interior architect Susanna Cots created for a penthouse apartment in a bustling neighborhood of Barcelona, one word comes to mind: chic. Cots, who is known for her use of white tones, carefully integrated a grayscale color scheme into a geometric layout that is sunlit, spacious, and practical.
But it wasn't always this way. When Cots first met the family with four children who live here, the property was a dark enclosure of mismatched rooms. Cots relied on a few common solutions to brighten the layout — namely, light wood floors, white walls, and steel-lined windows — and installed them in a way that gave each facet a share of attention. But Cots did something unexpected, too: she focused on square shapes to provide character.
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Throughout the home, on larger and smaller details, squares are used to artfully define areas and rooms. For instance, the kitchen is separated in a transparent cube constructed from sliding glass windows, and rectangles define the living space that leads to the patio. Such symmetry creates a calmness that complements the airiness of a minimal palette. And seeing as Cots was always creating for a large family, that's exactly what they need.
