Rehabilitating a historic building
In 2005, at Núñez i Navarro we purchased the building from Grupo Planeta and began a period of restoration work that lasted two years. A team from the company developed the renovation and conservation plan, based on a careful artistic study of the property, an internal structural analysis, and a chromatic examination of the facade.
During this period, the efforts were focused mainly on the facade, the back courtyard, and the interior floors, including both the common areas and the offices.
The rear facade
The rear facade stands out for its beauty and great ornamental value, a circumstance that conditioned the rehabilitation task: it was restored floor by floor, with special care taken to preserve the stained glass windows; all of them, of an uncommon artistic quality.
The backyard
Regarding the rehabilitation and improvement of the backyard, once the restoration of the sgraffito on the rain partition wall, featuring the image of the mulberry tree that symbolizes the family name, was completed, the ground was recovered and the small house that formerly housed the home's laundry area and now serves as a storage room was restored.
The common areas and services
The services and common areas - the staircase, the ground floor, and the lobbies of the different floors of the building - were in good condition, so the restoration work focused only on repairing the damaged mosaics; mainly, in the access areas to the floors.
The interior
Inside is where we had to take the most action. The parquet and the floor mosaics had to be restored by specialists with degrees in Fine Arts. Likewise, the bathrooms were completely renovated, including the mosaics that decorate them and that showed various damages due to the passage of time.
It should be noted that a significant portion of the cabinetry was also restored, and the wood from the most deteriorated windows was replaced, both on the interior and exterior of the building.
Of the five floors that make up the property, the third, the attic, and the mezzanine were the ones in the worst state of preservation, and, obviously, the ones that required the most intensive and careful improvement work.
The main
The mezzanine of the building was the main area occupied by the Lleó i Morera family. To adapt the space for new uses, at Núñez i Navarro we conducted a comprehensive study of the tasks to be carried out and the needs for lighting, sound, decoration, and security, in accordance with the unique characteristics of the property. In addition, we also took charge of supervising the restoration of the most representative elements such as the parquet, the glasswork, the cabinetry, or the painting.
It was determined to light each room based on the wall covering material (plastic paint, marble sgraffito, plaster, or ceramic). Concurrently, it was agreed to make the allowed perforations for the installation in order to preserve the sgraffito and the original walls of some rooms.
Regarding the electrical installation, the current wiring is exposed, connected to the mechanisms of the original electrical network. The lighting is articulated through floor lamps, hanging lamps at existing anchor points, and lamps placed on tension cables screwed to the wall.
In 2007, Núñez i Navarro dedicated the building to office rentals.