Once an industrial heartland, Barcelona’s Poblenou district has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent years. The chimneys that once filled the sky with smoke now stand silent, and the old factories have been reborn as contemporary studios, bars, and creative start-ups. Poblenou has retained its raw, industrial character,  yet reimagined itself as something fresh, modern, and alive.

DOD Building, in collaboration with m-i-r-a architects, has captured this unique spirit in their latest project: a top-floor apartment in the heart of this dynamic neighborhood. The result is a space that feels equally connected to the city below and to the sky above, an architectural dialogue between the urban and the natural.

Materials such as concrete, iron, and brick evoke the area’s industrial past, while the architects weave natural elements throughout the space, creating the sensation of a calm oasis suspended above the city. Visitors are greeted by a palette of soft, neutral tones. Smooth concrete floors run seamlessly through the apartment, meeting light timber window frames that blur the boundary between inside and out. Warm sunlight floods the interior through expansive openings, uniting the built and the natural, the man-made and the organic. The architects quite literally invited the sky inside. Skylights are positioned with care and intention, where there is water, there is sky. Above the kitchen sink, the bath, and the shower, daylight filters in and reflects on the surfaces below, evoking the movement of water in nature: waterfalls, lakes, and streams.

The spatial flow is gentle and continuous, without abrupt transitions or interruptions. The apartment unfolds as one cohesive environment, moving effortlessly from terrace to bedroom, from kitchen to living room, and back again to the outdoors. A wooden terrace wraps around the apartment and can be accessed through wide glass doors at both ends, creating a sense of circular balance, a home that feels as much outside as in. Planters filled with greenery line the perimeter, screening nearby rooftops and shaping a secluded retreat within the dense urban fabric.

Natural textures, cotton, wicker, and wood, complement the smooth surfaces of the concrete floors and walls. The organic forms of the terrace plants become a living feature throughout the space, always visible and subtly drawing the eye outward toward nature. Original architectural elements have been preserved and reinterpreted, maintaining a dialogue with the building’s Catalan heritage. The traditional vaulted ceiling, with its rhythmic curves, becomes a sculptural focal point, while areas of exposed brickwork reveal the building’s industrial past. Together, these layers create a space that feels both grounded in history and distinctly contemporary, a refined, tranquil home that embodies the evolving soul of Poblenou.