Creativity is the result of the routine and the inner peace that comes from work and meditation. 
Based on this philosophy, Tadao Ando creates spaces that invite quiet contemplation.

To begin with, the bulthaup monoblock, with its perfect steel finish, is crowned by a majestic moveable olive wood bar top that can act both as a bar and as a leisure area. Next, the new b3 pocket door units, with walnut and oak interior fittings and the new bulthaup textured matte lacquer finish, make everything you need to offer drinks and snacks (including appliances) vanish into thin air. Again, the purity of bulthaup’s lines and its unique treatment of wood imbue the space with utterly elegant warmth. Right across, a small workshop showcases the different samples of the wide range of colors and finishes that can create different atmospheres in a kitchen and turn it into the most important room in the home, true to the bulthaup philosophy. As you venture further into the showroom, the living/dining area extends into a flawless b3 system that houses the new, recently launched steel interior fittings. Meanwhile, the greenery in the courtyard draws you on towards the pleasures of a small outdoor haven.

As you continue your visit, you find that the stairs to the ground level have recovered their natural maple wood character, leading you to a succession of three more system b1 and b3 options that unfold in the domestic splendor of a discriminating design and art lover. And this floor happens to be the place where bulthaup Barcelona/Bori i Fontestà is now offering its visitors an entirely new experience: a selection of national and international artists who will be featured in a series of exhibitions aimed at conveying a sense of how to integrate works with highly diverse styles and languages into a bulthaup home. To begin with, this Thursday, January 23rd, we will be holding an opening for Swedish artist Charlotte von Poehl, her first in Barcelona. She will be showing a sample of the colorful studies of space and architecture she produces in different formats and disciplines: installation, painting, and photography. It is the perfect occasion to admire the showroom’s renovation and let yourself be drawn into the bulthaup world.

Photos of Elisenda Fontarnau

A plot with a twelve-meter elevation drop, on the north face of a hill, lacking the surface area to accommodate the proposed program, rocky terrain, a forest to be preserved and, as usual… the urge to put a poke on a pig.
Our quest to make the most of the natural features in the surroundings led us to pursue a solution that enabled the home not only to blend into the landscape, but also to reflect and multiply it.

Hence, a polyhedral geometry unfolds, coated in iridescent blue-green steel that merges with the sky and the trees, reflects the nearby pines, and rises up to let the floor slip underneath… an ironic twist to Bruno Latour’s Green regime?

The building was developed as an interface, a mediation device that opens up unavailable spaces and puts them to use.
The lower level, carved out of the hillside, was assigned to functions with less of a need for natural light, along with access to the upper level. Between this access area and the one to the plot, a shadow cast by the upper section creates a covered driveway.
The upper section, on the other hand, is a staple piercing the earth: a suspended overhang that creates an inner cavity, which in turn creates a south-facing wall that lets the breeze and the sunlight pour into the indoor spaces.

This suspended area is closed off by a roof coated with the same material as the outer walls, which envelops the entire building and enables rainwater to run freely to the ground, watering the plot’s natural shrub land vegetation.

bulthaup Partner: bulthaup Murcia, Quarta
Architecture project: Javier Peña Galiano – XPIRAL
Contractor: Juan Carlos López Orenes
Photograph: Juan de la Cruz Megías
Construction date: 2006
Area: 467m2
Location: Murcia. España

You wind your way down cobblestone streets to the main square of a medieval village. A fortified tower looms up before you. Loopholes. Merlons. Ashlar stonework. Facing this stronghold, you would never imagine the world hidden away behind its great wooden doors.

You enter. Little has changed in the appearance of the 13th century granaries and stables, although their corners now conceal the technical equipment required for 21st-century comforts. On the right in the porticoed courtyard, a wide stone staircase leads you to the middle level, the most private area in the residence. A 100 square meter floor–with the same footprint as the entire tower–houses the bedrooms, the study, and the library under strikingly tall ceilings, protected behind one-and-a-half-meter thick walls.

Onward you go, up the next flight of stairs, to the top level. A clear sky is cut out against the outline of the surrounding rooftops, pouring light through the 28 windows that follow the tower’s perimeter, once the crenels on the battlement. The renovation that added a hip roof supported by oak beams and covered with Arab tiles is well over a century old by now. Along with the exposed stone walls, the thick wooden roof frame and the walnut flooring create an extraordinarily warm atmosphere, where the living and dining areas extend seamlessly into the bulthaup kitchen.

Interior designer Helena Lind, together with architect José Luis Blanco and with the support of bulthaup Madrid, Galera, has achieved an apt contrast by introducing a large bulthaup b3 peninsula attached to the wall, finished in black linoleum and natural aluminum, under a stainless steel worktop. The mid wall panel protects the stone walls up to the height of the windowsills. Opening up to the large, open living and dining area, the outer side of the peninsula provides easy access to crockery and other everyday use items. The clean lines of the kitchen design, utterly self-assured in their coherence, have no need to upstage the imposing distinction of their context.

Some projects are vividly etched in our memories. The conjunction of the voices of centuries ago with the timeless simplicity of this bulthaup b3 kitchen has created a space that is not easily forgotten.

bulthaup Partner: bulthaup Madrid, Galera

Interior designer: Helena Lind

Architecture project: José Luis Blanco

Photographs : Luís Mínguez Ambrós

Construction date:: Siglo XII

Reform date: Mayo de 2012

Area: 500 mts2

Location: Cantabria. España

From the ground, we raise our eyes and follow the curving ramps that wind their way up through the terrain between the orchard and the pool. The ramps turn into roofs and floors, lifting a space that is a house today but could easily become a studio or an art gallery tomorrow.

Inside, in the middle of the large open space that reaches out towards the landscape, we find an anchor: a white bulthaup kitchen standing out against the uneven grey of the exposed concrete behind it. A pristine anchor, as multifunctional as the space it inhabits. White on the laminated units, white on the identical worktop. A flat stainless steel extractor hood merges with the concrete wall. The cooking, water, and preparation areas extend seamlessly into a bar top, following the curvature of the back wall. It continues all the way to the central, open space, basking in the light the streams in from the picture windows: an overlook onto a private garden, right below; further out, in the distance, the glimmering sea.

bulthaup Partner: bulthaup Alicante, Quarta
Architecture project: noname 29 (Alfredo Payá Benedito)
Photograph: David Frutos
Construction date: 2006
Area: 240m2
Location: San Vicente, Alicante. Spain

bulthaup Partner: bulthaup Girona
Area: 600m2
Location: Frespech, France

This is where Son Grua Nou stands, a house in which architect Joan Riusech succeeded in combining the understated exterior of a traditional Mallorcan house with the open indoor spaces of a modern dwelling. Hence, although from the outside the house is dominated by the rather rugged sobriety of roughhewn stone, on the inside we find pure lines that are emphasized by the spotless white of the walls and ceilings. This minimalist atmosphere is further reinforced by the natural light beaming into the space, highlighting an eclectic decorative style and works of art selected from the Joan Melià gallery.

From the entrance hall, through a white sliding door, we reach a living room with large windows, and, next to it and without any further transition, a magnificent bulthaup kitchen. In the kitchen, white prevails again, in keeping with the rest of the house; however, here contrasts are achieved with the use of stainless steel for the ovens, the extractor hood, and the plinth panels, and by the warmth of a thick slab of walnut extending from one end of the cooking island. The windows running along all three sides of this space frame the landscape like hyperrealist paintings, inviting us to bask in contemplation of the world outside, while aromatic dishes are prepared in the midst of a lively conversation among good friends.

The second floor houses the bedrooms and a wonderful covered terrace offering the rough, untamed allure of the Mallorcan mountain range.

bulthaup Partner: bulthaup Mallorca, Nicolau
Architecture project: Joan Riusech
Photographs: Toni Font
Reform date: 2013
Area: 568m2
Location: Mallorca, Spain.

The bulthaup showroom in Sant Cugat, Criteri, was recently featured in the “Retrato” section of the July issue of CASA VIVA magazine.
In an in-depth, detailed interview, its managers explain how honesty in their work implies a commitment to finding the best solution that will fulfill their customers’ needs while also exceeding their expectations. Creating pleasant environments that improve their users’ quality of life is the aim of Criteri’s residential projects.
We share the published interview with you.

Puntas de Calnegre, Murcia. A protected area whose cliffs and coves shape a ragged coastline. A barren landscape where the wind blowing in from the south reminds us that Africa is not far.

On the edge of this nature reserve, a white and grey vantage point juts out from a rocky hill covered in cacti. In a community whose people are still bound to the earth and to the sea, making the most of both its potential and its limitations, we encounter a bold interplay of volumes that happens to merge surprisingly well with its surroundings. A space whose apparent austerity springs to life with the small and great daily pleasures of its inhabitants: a couple, with the sea and a life ahead of them, who love to surf and to fish. A setting that invites one to retreat, but also to bring a handful of good friends together.

The four floors in the house share a central element: a staircase, hand built with 10mm sheet metal, and a HEB 220 beam, both made of stainable steel, that takes off from the basement and head upwards, connecting the different levels all the way to the roof deck. The garage and storeroom in the bottom level house the couple’s vehicles: a car, boats, and windsurf boards. The ground floor encloses the least exposed, most private area in the building, including the bedrooms, the laundry room, and the main hallway. If we keep on heading upward, we suddenly stop dead in our tracks. The view spans the entire arc of the bay. The heart of the home opens out to the sea, to the outlines of the hills, breaking the barriers between outside and in. The open space that contains the kitchen, the dining room, and the living room extends seamlessly out to the terraces.

We keep on going up the stairs: on the roof, from the sun deck, we witness a stunning uninterrupted panorama of those same hills, of that same sea.

We return to the central space in the house. The rough-hewn, somewhat industrial character of the exposed materials on the walls and ceilings is appeased by the views pouring in the picture windows, tamed by the persuasive elegance of the centerpiece: an immense bulthaup island.

The owners were well aware of the role they were attributing to a kitchen that was so exposed, acknowledging the need for its being endowed with exceptional character and quality. bulthaup b3 system units with white laminate fronts were installed with an oven that allowed for baking the largest catch of the day; the work area was conceived as a space to be shared with close friends.

At Puntas del Calnegre, people don’t fence in their land. They have a different sense of boundaries. A good harvest, a great day out fishing: reason enough to gather and celebrate.

In an environment where the perfection of simplicity prevails, bulthaup sets the perfect stage for sharing everyday pleasures.

bulthaup Partner: bulthaup Murcia, Quarta
Architecture project: Javier Peña Galiano – XPIRAL
Contractor: Juan Cañavate Llopis
Assistant architects: Jesús Galera, Pablo García
Photographs: David Frutos
Construction date: 2007
Area: 450m2
Location: Lorca, Murcia, Spain.

Restoring a 14th-century building and turning it into a unique contemporary apartment calls for weighty judgment calls, a heightened awareness of what deserves to remain. This savoir-faire was the spirit that moved the owners, architects, and designers at Can Caurelles.

The owners wanted a home in which the moments and gestures in their everyday lives could coexist with a strong presence of art in all its forms.

In this versatile home, you wander through rooms and spaces between paintings and sculptures that in certain instances act as frames and in others are the main object of your attention.

The kitchen had to pass unnoticed without losing any of its functionality. Adjoining the living room, it had to “vanish” when not in use, extending the space left for peace and quiet. A 32m2 section of the main floor was assigned for this space, the best-lit area within the entire residence. And, in fact, light is of the utmost importance to the owners, passionate collectors who viewed the kitchen as a living space where they could place their works of art.

That was their reason for choosing bulthaup. A sleek white b3 system appears to merge with the luminous space, and a sculptural cooking island provides an understated division in the room.

The kitchen opens up directly to the living room, which becomes more spacious, well proportioned, and elegant. To heighten this effect, the design team decided not to use tall units so as not to distract the viewer from the works of art on display.

While they sip a glass of wine or cook dinner with their friends, the owners enjoy the feeling of being in a warm, enveloping space, surrounded by art.

This magnificent project was orchestrated by multifaceted architect and interior designer Luis Laplace, who employed a team of specialized craftsmen to adapt as many of the original materials and accessories as possible to contemporary use.

bulthaup Partner: bulthaup Mallorca, Groc i Blau
Architecture Project: Luis Laplace
Photographs: Matthias Soeder
Construction date: 2008
Area: 600m2
Location: Palma de Mallorca. España