Rehabilitating a historic building
Throughout the 20th century, this building underwent several renovations; particularly, in the commercial premises. Regarding its current state, the inaccessibility due to the accumulated demolitions suggests that it is unlikely that original elements of interest or of great heritage value have survived.
At Group NN we acquired the property in 2001 and began renovations in 2013. The project maintains the original style, increasing the height from three to six stories. It is an intervention that, as a result, also ensures that the building fits in better with the taller buildings in its surroundings.
In this corner, in October 2016, NN Hotels, with about ten establishments in Barcelona, inaugurated The Corner, a hotel in the heart of the Catalan capital, close to Passeig de Gràcia. It features an open lobby, 72 rooms, and a terrace with a swimming pool.
Your story, our story
After the initial years of fervent construction on the right side of the Eixample; specifically, on the streets adjacent to Passeig de Gràcia, Rambla de Catalunya, and Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes. On these avenues, the imprint of the most fashionable architectural style of the time, Modernisme, with such imposing houses as Casa Lleó i Morera, Casa Amatller, Casa Batlló, or Casa Milà, among others, gave way, over the 1920s of the newly started 20th century, to a more classic and monumental style. In this vein, and with fewer ornamental elements on facades and interiors, the new buildings of the Eixample returned to the traces of Neoclassicism. The Palà brothers' building was structured with a ground floor, three stories, and a flat walkable rooftop with a beautiful balustrade railing, featuring pronounced pediments that run along the facades of the two streets, Mallorca and Muntaner. This architectural gem also incorporated a symmetrical distribution of the interior light courts and a rear gallery.
The ground floors of the building, which for years were rental premises, feature decorative elements in artificial stone, following a monumental and classic style like the one used in the rest of the building. The central portal has a structure similar to a triumphal arch, with a profusely decorated lintel.
The cornices with moldings stand out, giving the entire building a monumental and classic air. It is also worth highlighting the area of the ground floors on Mallorca street, some pilasters and two columns of the Tuscan order symmetrically distributed in three wide entrance spaces to the interiors of the ground floors.
On the second level, there is a large balcony that spans almost the entire width of the corner of the building, with a railing made of artificial stone, decorated with rectangular panels with concave angles; the modulated handrail is made of artificial stone pieces.
The third floor consists of a central balcony with a concrete slab and two more balconies flanking it. The balcony has a balustrade railing and modulated handrails; all made of artificial stone. The remaining four balconies are made up of a slab with little overhang, on which a low iron railing is arranged.
The corner of the building where the frontages of Mallorca street and the chamfer converge is constructed with an overhang from the second floor level. In the area of the first floor, where there is an opening with a lintel in the form of a segmental arch, two monumental cartouches are situated, which form the base of the overhang of this corner. Finally, it is important to consider another unique feature of this building: its low height (the only building on the entire island with only a ground floor and three upper floors), which means that the property does not follow the patterns of its immediate surroundings, with exposed party walls of no quality.