VIRREINA / Nook Architects + Genoveva Carrión

Architects: Nook Architects, Genoveva Carrión
Area: 78 m²
Year: 2026
Photography: José Hevia
Contractor: Construccions Josep Ramon SL
City: Barcelona
Country: Spain

The VIRREINA – ICUB Access Hall project redefines the entrance sequence to the Institut de Cultura de Barcelona offices within the historic Palau de la Virreina. Designed by Nook Architects in collaboration with Genoveva Carrión, the intervention encompasses three vaulted rooms totaling 78 square meters. The proposal introduces a light architectural strategy that modernizes the institutional presence of ICUB while preserving the building’s historic fabric. The design emphasizes horizontality, spatial continuity, and reflective steel partitions that remain detached from the original structure. Green tones applied to perimeter surfaces integrate new and existing elements, while subtle red accents reference the Barcelona Municipal Council’s corporate identity. Custom-designed, movable furniture supports flexible use, reinforcing a heritage-sensitive yet contemporary approach.

Virreina / nook architects + genoveva carrión

The intervention unfolds within the dense civic and cultural context of Ciutat Vella, where the Palau de la Virreina stands as a significant historic landmark. Rather than approaching the commission as a conventional refurbishment, the architects framed the project as an exercise in perceptual recalibration. Their strategy sought to strengthen the institutional identity of the Institut de Cultura de Barcelona while allowing the architectural memory of the building to remain legible and intact.

Working across three sequential vaulted rooms that mediate access to the offices, the design team identified the perimeter surfaces as the most sensitive and effective sites for transformation. By opening and visually activating these boundaries, they altered the spatial reading of the rooms without modifying their original material fabric. The introduction of green across the enclosure surfaces establishes continuity with tones already present in the building, weaving the intervention into its historic atmosphere through chromatic alignment rather than contrast.

Freestanding steel partitions inserted into the first two rooms operate simultaneously as functional devices and spatial instruments. Carefully positioned in response to the vaulted geometry, these reflective elements never physically touch the historic structure. Their surfaces, calibrated with varying degrees of reflectivity, amplify light, depth, and texture, multiplying the perception of the existing architecture and softening the definition of thresholds between spaces.

Reflection functions here not as an ornament but as a relational tool. By capturing and re-presenting fragments of vaults, walls, and circulation, the partitions blur rigid boundaries and reinforce the project’s conceptual emphasis on horizontality and inclusion. The resulting visual interplay expands the perceived dimensions of the modest footprint, transforming the experience of entry through resonance rather than addition.

Complementing these architectural gestures, custom-designed counters and auxiliary furnishings introduce mobility and adaptability to the access hall. Conceived as practical, specialized, and unobtrusive elements, they respond to the operational demands of a contemporary cultural institution while maintaining deference to the historic setting. Subtle red accents on selected substructures reference the Barcelona Municipal Council’s corporate identity, anchoring the intervention institutionally while preserving the measured, respectful character that defines the project as a whole.