refurbishment private property badia gran, mallorca
Project 1312 comprises the conversion, extension and comprehensive refurbishment of a three-storey existing building located on the first sea line. The starting point was a conventional Mediterranean villa in pink, with a small-scale opening pattern, heavy parapets and balustrade-like exterior elements, as well as an additive massing that responded only weakly to the site and its view relationships.
Beyond aesthetic shortcomings, the building presented constructive and building-physics issues, in particular moisture ingress and an overall outdated technical fit-out. The brief called for a complete redesign “inside, outside and all around” — architecture, interior architecture and landscape design were treated as a continuous scope and consolidated into a coherent overall concept.
The central design premise was maximum, further expandable transparency towards the sea. To achieve this, the building was largely stripped back and spatially reorganised. Existing partitions — especially on the main living level — were removed and replaced by new structural and bracing elements in order to create an open living landscape combining lounge, dining and kitchen.
The formerly sequential, cellular layout was dissolved in favour of a continuous spatial field. Spatial edges were sharpened where functions needed to be concentrated; otherwise, sightlines, daylight penetration and direct links to exterior spaces define the interior organisation. Vertical circulation was integrated into this logic so that spatial flow remains legible across all levels.
In parallel with the internal reconfiguration, the envelope was comprehensively reworked. The former small-format window arrangement was replaced with new large-scale fixed glazing and weather-resistant glazed doors. New window formats and opening ratios were positioned to emphasise the horizontal expanse of the sea view while increasing daylight depth.
Facades were unified both constructively and formally: exterior plaster and reveals were re-profiled, details were clarified, and white was adopted as the consistent design medium. The result is a calm, precise envelope that does not conceal the existing fabric but reorders it through reduction and new proportions.
As the primary identity element, perforated stainless-steel panels were developed, powder-coated in white, functioning simultaneously as shading devices, filters and boundary elements. The panels were designed as a consistent family, individually adapted to specific conditions: as sliding or hinged elements in front of glazing, as privacy screens, as gate and fencing components, and as atmospheric light filters in transitional zones.
The circular perforation creates a nuanced interplay of transparency and opacity; depending on the sun angle, shifting shadow patterns emerge, translating the hard Mediterranean light into a softer, spatially readable structure. At the same time, the robust panels contribute to weather resistance and controlled privacy without compromising views or openness.
The exterior areas were redesigned as an extension of the living spaces. The pool was remodelled and redefined as a clearly framed pool landscape with associated outdoor terraces. Large-format surfaces and natural stone blocks of Santanyí stone form the material counterpoint to the white architecture. The topography of terraces and outdoor zones follows the logic of use, access and views rather than decorative motifs.
Transitions between inside and outside were organised with minimal thresholds; lounging areas were positioned to offer, as required, sun, shade and wind protection; and garden circulation was implemented as a robust, low-maintenance system of slab fields and gravel areas. The landscape concept integrates existing vegetation, supplements it with site-appropriate, drought-tolerant planting, and aligns built elements and boundaries into a calm overall composition.
A further focus was the complete renewal of building services. The existing structure was dried and dehumidified; technical systems were brought up to contemporary standards and adapted to the new spatial configuration. The systems were conceived to remain visually discreet: air routes, built-ins and access points are integrated as quietly as possible so that the perceptible order is determined primarily by space, light and material.
New parapets and balustrades were executed as reduced, linear elements, replacing the former heavy, ornamental fall protection; edges and terraces read more clearly, and views are less interrupted.
The interior architecture extends the principles of the external transformation: reduction, clarity and precise detailing. As a spatial anchor within the open plan, a suspended fireplace acts as a room divider between lounge and dining areas without fragmenting the generosity of the plan. Finishes and materials were deliberately restrained to foreground light and the sea view; natural stone surfaces provide continuity between interior and exterior and lend the rooms a robust, site-related tactility.
Complementary to this, built-in furniture and bespoke pieces were developed specifically for the project: shelving, sideboards and a TV cabinet in walnut add warmth within the white spatial shell while providing storage and organisational functions. Bathrooms were redesigned and rebuilt, as was the kitchen as an integral part of the open living landscape.
Here, the intention was a “quiet” fit-out: flush, reduced cabinetry with Corian fronts and worktops forms a homogeneous, lightweight working and living zone that does not read as a separate service room but as part of the overall volume.
In the comparison “before pink / after white”, the project is not a cosmetic overlay but a structural reinterpretation of the existing building. Previously additive elements were translated into a consistent architectural language that takes the site — sea, light, wind and openness — as primary design parameters. The project demonstrates the existing fabric as a viable resource: through stripping back, precise interventions, new openings, robust technical renewal and a coordinated landscape strategy, it was transformed into a contemporary, durable overall system.
project: 1312
size: confidential
construction area: confidential
client: confidential
location: badia gran, llucmajor mallorca
type: refurbisnment single private property
team (building): jle
team (interior design): jle
team (exterior design): jle
responsible architects: jle
