It has happened to me more than once on a first visit. You lift the corner of a well-worn wooden floor and underneath there’s a hydraulic tile with garnet-red rosettes, intact after decades of being hidden. What a wonder! Many of the architectural features of the Eixample that add the most value to a flat can’t be seen at a glance, because later renovations covered them with false ceilings, new flooring or layers of paint.
If you’ve bought (or are about to buy) one of these flats, chances are you fell for the high ceilings or the pattern on the floor without really knowing what is original, what is damaged and what you can touch.
Today I want to talk to you about ceilings, floors, walls, joinery, galleries and balconies, and what’s worth knowing about each one before the first machine enters the site.
Why Eixample flats keep so many valuable features
A good share of the flats in the Eixample (the extension Barcelona built outside its walls) were built for bourgeois families between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, at the height of Modernista decorative arts. The architect acted as a coordinator of craftsmen and manufacturers, and each home received the work of many trades at once: hydraulic paving, stained glass, ceramics, wrought iron, hardware and furniture.
Regulation has helped the whole to survive. The Ordenança de rehabilitació i millora de l’Eixample (the Eixample rehabilitation and improvement ordinance) requires the façade to be maintained on buildings predating 1932, even if they aren’t individually protected. It considers them arquitectura de replé (infill architecture): the ordinary architecture that fills the blocks beyond the landmark buildings, and it counts it among the neighbourhood’s most characteristic values.
The inventory repeats itself with few variations from flat to flat, and it’s not unusual to find Catalan vaulting, hydraulic tiles, Nolla mosaic, wooden windows and a glazed gallery in the same home. This is what usually appears in each area of the home, and what we’ll go through one by one:
- Ceilings: the volta catalana (a thin brick vault spanning between beams), plaster cornices and mouldings and, in some flats, painted or coffered ceilings.
- Floors: hydraulic tile and Nolla mosaic, made of small, brightly coloured ceramic tesserae.
- Walls: solid brick walls, tiles and ceramic skirting, and the occasional fireplace.
- Joinery: wooden windows and balcony doors, shutters, interior doors with engraved glass, leaded stained glass and original ironmongery.
- Gallery and balconies: the glazed gallery or tribuna facing the block’s inner courtyard, and the wrought-iron balconies facing the street.
Catalan vaults, mouldings and decorated ceilings
In many Eixample flats, the ceiling you see today is not the one that was built. A cel ras (what a false ceiling is called in Catalan) can be hiding a brick vault, timber or iron beams and several centimetres of height that nobody has enjoyed for decades.
Volta catalana (with timber or metal beams)
What it is and why it’s so characteristic of the Eixample
The volta catalana (Catalan vault) is a ceiling of flat bricks laid by hand in successive layers, forming shallow arches between one beam and the next. It went up quickly and without complex formwork. It is a technique with centuries of tradition in Catalonia.
With the arrival of reinforced concrete it fell out of use and, in many flats, ended up hidden by false ceilings. Today it is hardly ever built anew, because it is labour-intensive and there are few workers trained in it.
How to tell if your ceiling is hiding one
There are clues that point the way: a false ceiling that makes the rooms lower than you’d expect in a building of that period, a curve you can make out beneath the paint, or a hollow sound when you tap it. None is conclusive.
The reliable method is a prior survey, that is, opening a small, controlled hole to see what is behind it and in what condition before agreeing a budget.
Why keeping it adds value to the home
- Character: brick brings warm tones and an irregular texture that is hard to imitate with a new finish, and it suits very different styles, from leaving it exposed next to a recovered hydraulic floor to painting the vaults white over a continuous floor.
- Height: when you remove the false ceiling you recover the centimetres it took up, which in a high-ceilinged flat you notice in the sense of spaciousness.
- Less waste: recovering what already exists avoids demolition and new material.
I have a weakness for penthouses where the vault is left exposed and catches the light from the terraces, because the vault becomes the absolute protagonist of the home.
Was the vault what you were meant to see?
In many Modernista flats, what was visible was a plaster ceiling on reed lath, and the ceramic vault was the structure above it, never intended to be on show. That ceiling also muffled noise.
Leaving the vault exposed is a legitimate design decision, but it’s different from recovering the original look. If the plaster ceiling is sound or has decoration, at the studio we prefer to assess it before tearing it down.
How it’s restored, step by step
First, the condition of the vault, the joints, any damp and the beams is confirmed. Then the false ceiling, plaster and paint are carefully removed, the old mortar is cleaned off and damaged pieces are rebuilt with a compatible mortar. It is finished with a breathable treatment, a water repellent or a matt varnish, which protects without sealing the brick.
Timber or metal beams: when to leave them exposed and when to treat them
The original beams, whether timber or iron, tell the story of the building’s different construction phases. If they’re sound, they can stay exposed next to the brick or be painted white along with the vault to gain light. If the diagnosis finds damage, they are treated and reinforced before deciding on the finish.
High ceilings: clear height as a value
Height is one of the first things that attracts people to an Eixample flat, and there are homes with spaces of almost four metres. The risk comes with the services, because lowering the whole ceiling to hide ducts eats up precisely that volume.
We run the large air-conditioning ducts along the corridors, away from decorated ceilings, with discreet grilles (linear ones, ideally), and we recess LED lighting only where the ceiling can already be modified.
Hydraulic tile, Nolla mosaic and other historic floors
The patterned floor is usually what’s remembered most from the first visit to an Eixample flat, and also the first thing to disappear in a rushed renovation. Often that paving can be recovered, and knowing what’s under your feet changes the decision.
Hydraulic tiles
What they are and how to recognise whether they’re original
The hydraulic tile (rajola hidràulica in Catalan) is pressed rather than fired. If any piece has its edge exposed (at a threshold, or where a tile is missing), check whether it measures about 2 cm and whether two layers can be distinguished: the coloured one on top and the grey one underneath. The pattern has thickness within that upper layer, rather than being a printed film. These are clues that point the way and don’t replace a survey carried out by someone who has lifted many period floors.
Why they add value to the home
Each pattern came from a specific catalogue, sometimes signed by an architect, and combined with borders and carpet-like central panels it turned each room into a unique piece. Between the 1960s and 1980s, hydraulic tile lost ground to cheaper materials, which is why so many flats hide it today under carpet, terrazzo or laminate. In listed buildings the paving may be protected, something worth checking before lifting anything.
How they’re restored and when to reproduce them
Because the decorative layer is thin and sits on a grey base, wear advances layer by layer. That explains why polishing can bring colour back to a dull tile, and also why a piece worn down to the grey can no longer be fixed.
Reproducing pays off when pieces are missing and no originals turn up, and it’s better with documented recreations of the same pattern. If you dream of underfloor heating, bear in mind that it requires lifting the paving to lay the circuits, so it only fits where the original no longer exists or can be dismantled and relaid.
Nolla mosaic
Nolla mosaic is a paving formed of small geometric stoneware pieces that, together, make up the pattern. It takes its name from Miguel Nolla, who founded the factory in Meliana (Valencia) in the late 19th century.
To tell them apart at home, look at the scale. In hydraulic tile, each tile carries the complete pattern or part of it; in Nolla, the motif emerges from fitting together many small tesserae.
Other floors: terrazzo, mosaic and wood
Terrazzo, with stone fragments in a polished cement base, and other mosaics can be a valuable piece of their own era or a layer covering something older. Some rooms also keep their original wooden floors, which can take sanding and a new finish. Tearing them out without looking at what they are tends to leave every flat the same.
Brick walls, tiles, murals and fireplaces
Solid brick walls that can be left exposed (and when it’s not advisable)
Under the plaster of many Eixample walls there is solid brick, and when it appears it’s hard to resist. I see it as one option among those an old flat offers. Stripping every wall as a rule makes all projects end up looking alike, and cutting chases for electrical installations in a load-bearing wall calls for caution, with a survey and a structural check before chipping away. If, on uncovering the brick, traces of plaster or of the original paint remain, they can be left visible instead of cleaning it until it’s spotless.
Murals and decorative stencilling
Mural painting was part of the Modernista decorative programme, alongside ceramics, glass and wrought iron. A common technique in those homes is stencilling, a motif repeated by painting it through a cut-out template, widely used in borders and friezes. Over the years many were hidden under layers of paint, so it’s worth looking before painting over.
The original colours of a wall also count as patina, even if they’re not perfect. Where nothing is left to recover, wallpaper restores texture to a bedroom without pretending to be restoration.
Doors, windows, shutters, ironmongery and stained glass
In the bourgeois Eixample, the wood, glass and iron of a house could come from the same workshop. Today those trades are scattered. Recovering a door with stained glass usually requires a carpenter, a glazier and, sometimes, a metal restorer, and coordinating them is part of the work we take on at Nomadas.
The general rule for all original joinery is professional restoration or documented reproduction, never a copy made “by eye”.
Wooden windows and balcony doors
The balconera is the glazed door that opens onto the balcony, and together with the wooden windows it sets the rhythm of the façades. Many can be recovered even if they seem lost: they are stripped, rotten wood is repaired with grafts and the ironmongery is adjusted so they close properly again.
The usual question is comfort. Low-emissivity or triple glazing can be incompatible with the original frame, and changing the joinery visible from outside affects the façade, so it goes through the community of owners and the ordinance. That’s why cold and street noise (very noticeable on ground floors) are usually solved from the inside, with weatherstripping, a thin double glazing, an acoustic laminated glass that the frame can take, or a secondary interior window.
Shutters and interior blinds
Shutters (porticones) are the wooden leaves that close on the inside of the window to darken the room. If the leaves and the ironmongery survive, I would restore them before thinking of roller or Roman blinds, since they serve the same function and are part of the window’s design.
The gallery and balconies: the flat’s outdoor spaces
Almost all Eixample flats have two faces. One looks onto the street, with its balconies, and the other opens onto the interior of the block. Both are part of a façade, and that changes quite a lot what you can decide yourself and what the community decides.
The gallery or tribuna facing the block’s inner courtyard
The gallery is that glazed space at the back of the flat, open onto the pati d’illa, the large empty space inside each Eixample block. It is usually the brightest room in the home and, in many renovations, ends up as a reading nook, an everyday dining area or a small greenhouse full of plants. That first-light glow!
These courtyards weigh so heavily in the neighbourhood’s identity that the ordinance defines the protected whole by two features: the alignment of the buildings to the street and the characteristic interior openness (esponjamiento interior) of the block courtyards. That is why the gallery counts as an interior block façade.
Article 23.4.c requires that any restoration, modification or replacement of the elements of those façades be unitary in character and not alter the typology or configuration of the original solutions. In practice, closing the gallery with different joinery, changing its glazing for something different from your neighbour’s, or removing it on your own conflicts with the rule, and those decisions follow a single criterion for the whole building. Indoors there is more leeway: how you connect the gallery with the living room, what flooring you lay or how you furnish it is part of your own home’s renovation.
Its weak point is the climate: with single glazing it’s cold in winter and heats up a lot in summer, which is why so many people think of closing it or changing it. Restoring the joinery, adjusting the leaves and using interior curtains or awnings greatly improves its comfort without touching what’s seen from the courtyard.
Balconies and wrought-iron railings
On the street façade, the ordinance gives priority to the open balcony. Its article 23.d establishes that openings with a balcony should predominate over those that add glazed elements such as a tribuna or mirador, and that railings should be grilles of predominantly vertical composition, that rhythm of bars repeated floor after floor as you walk around the neighbourhood. Balconies and tribunas also tend to appear among the items covered by the protection sheets of listed buildings, although what counts in each case is the specific sheet for your building.
On the balconies of that era, handcrafted wrought iron, worked piece by piece, coexisted with stamped industrial production, which allowed motifs to be repeated in series at lower cost.
I love going up to an old railing and looking at the pattern, because it says a lot about the budget and aspirations of whoever built the building. Repairing or changing your balcony’s railing also goes through the community, even if the balcony is yours.
How to know what to keep and how to integrate it into a modern renovation
I always say that renovating an Eixample flat is more like microsurgery than demolition. Each element is assessed separately, you intervene only as much as needed and, whenever possible, in a reversible way, so that whoever comes after can undo what we decide today.
Signs that an element is original, and assessing its condition
Many originals are out of sight, and at Nomadas we walk the flat looking for these signs before any survey:
- Floors: under rugs, inside built-in wardrobes or next to the skirting board, where new paving sometimes doesn’t reach.
- Ceilings: one lower than those of the neighbouring rooms may be hiding a vault above it. Sometimes there are even inspection hatches that let us see the original ceiling.
- Mouldings and plaster: a relief clogged by many layers of paint usually gives away an old piece.
- Joinery and glass: solid wood with visible joints, repainted ironmongery and glass with small waves point to period pieces.
When a professional diagnosis is advisable before deciding
If the signs point to damp or affect the structure, or if the renovation involves removing coverings, it’s advisable to diagnose before finalising the project. The same goes if you’re still buying. A home technical inspection report helps you find out what’s behind what attracts you on the viewing, and it’s one of the points where an architect can advise you on the purchase before you sign.
In old buildings, cost overruns and delays usually come from project adjustments and surveys done late. With the survey at the start, the budget is based on what’s there and not on assumptions.
Criteria for combining the historic with contemporary design without ending up with a “hotchpotch”
Preserving doesn’t oblige you to live in a museum. These are the criteria we apply so that old and new coexist:
- Contrast, never imitation: a well-resolved contemporary piece next to an original enhances both, whereas a bad reproduction of a moulding or a tile devalues the whole.
- The new goes where the original no longer exists: if the Nolla mosaic and the joinery are kept, contemporary design can come in precisely where the original ceiling was lost, for example with timber ribs that integrate the lighting.
- Reuse period pieces: second-hand doors or washbasins, and even reclaimed hydraulic tile to complete a floor.
- Less is more: the original bourgeois home tended towards horror vacui (filling every surface with ornament). If the ceiling and floor already speak loudly, the furniture and walls can afford silence.
I apply a simple test, which is to imagine removing a new element. If the space loses nothing, it’s probably surplus.
Cost, value and regulation before deciding
How much it costs to restore versus replace
The objection I hear most on first visits is that restoring costs more than putting in something new. Sometimes that’s true and often it isn’t, but today there is no reliable table comparing the two options element by element. The figures circulating for recovering a Catalan vault or reproducing hydraulic tile come from forums and scattered quotes, and I prefer not to give them to you as a reference.
The only indicative figure is for the surface treatment of hydraulic tile (cleaning and polishing): Habitissimo puts it at roughly 5 to 20 euros per square metre, with ranges that don’t quite match each other. It covers polishing what you already have, not replacing broken pieces or manufacturing replicas.
What can be compared is what each option involves. Replacing also costs: you have to tear out, remove rubble, buy new material and, in the case of a false ceiling, give up height. And there is something that appears in no budget, because a hydraulic floor from 1900 or a vault that gets thrown away can’t be bought again.
What really moves the budget of a restoration is:
- The real condition of the element: a floor with surface wear is solved by polishing, while one with lost pieces forces you to find or reproduce the pattern.
- What it hides: damp, damaged beams or old installations change the scope of the works, and a vault with affected beams stops being a decorative job.
That’s why we give the quote after the visit and the surveys, never before. For a general reference, in our guide on how much it costs to renovate a home in Barcelona you’ll find prices and timelines for a full renovation.
How much it can increase the sale or rental value
There is no published data measuring how much the price of an Eixample flat rises by keeping its original features. You’ll see percentages on industry websites, none with a study behind it, so you won’t find one here.
What I can give you is judgement. I’ve visited many renovated flats that look too much alike, with the same porcelain stoneware, the same false ceiling and the same kitchen. An exposed vault ceiling or a recovered hydraulic floor makes a flat recognisable among dozens of listings, and that uniqueness can’t be bought from a catalogue.
What is protected by heritage regulation in the Eixample and which permits to request
Owning the flat doesn’t mean you can touch everything. Before deciding what stays and what goes, it’s worth following this order:
- Check whether the building is listed: the Ajuntament has the architectural heritage catalogue with a public search tool, and each sheet describes the property and the interventions permitted according to its level of protection. The Col·legi de l’Arquitectura Tècnica (Cateb) explains how to find out whether a building is listed or protected in Barcelona.
- Request a prior enquiry if in doubt: the consulta prèvia tells you the procedure, the documentation and the special instructions that apply to your level of protection.
- Request the heritage report before the works file: according to the Ajuntament’s official procedure for the heritage report (informe de patrimonio), the fee is 65 euros and the response time is one month from payment. If documentation is missing, they ask you for corrections. If the month passes without a report, you can go ahead with a copy of the receipt.
What you can touch inside the flat depends on the level of protection, and that is set by the sheet. As a guide, in the Eixample what usually gets protected is the façade composition, balconies, tribunas, paving and ornamental elements, and sometimes staircases and courtyards. Changing the kitchen, bathroom or installations is usually feasible if it doesn’t affect anything protected or the structure.
Apart from the catalogue, the whole neighbourhood is governed by the Eixample ordinance. Its article 23.4 establishes that, when restoring façades, entrance halls or common elements, even partially, ornaments, balconies, tribunas, wrought iron, stained glass, entrance doors and lifts must be preserved, and what has disappeared must be restored if it is documented. It also requires façades to be restored and cleaned every 10 years and prohibits painting stone. All of that is decided by the community; for your floors or your ceilings, the catalogue sheet governs.
If you haven’t bought yet, an urban planning feasibility report tells you what can be done in that property before you sign. For the remaining procedures, there’s our guide to licences and permits for renovating your home in Barcelona.
Entrance hall, staircase and light well depend on the community
The entrance hall, staircase, light well, entrance doors and façade are common elements of the building. Any intervention on them needs the agreement of the community of owners, and in listed buildings staircases and courtyards may also be protected. If your renovation changes windows or installations that open onto the light well (the interior shaft that ventilates kitchens and bathrooms), it’s advisable to discuss it with the neighbours first.
Why it pays to bring in specialists (and how to find them)
Restoring a hydraulic floor or a stained-glass window is technical work that not just any renovation company masters. If you’re looking for the craftsmen yourself, these questions separate those who know from those who improvise:
- Can I see previous work with this same material? Better if it’s visitable or comes with before-and-after photos.
- What mortar or product will you use? In old masonry, compatible mortars are sought, often lime-based, along with breathable treatments.
- Can you do a test in a little-visible area? A professional confident in their technique has no problem showing it beforehand.
- Can it be undone? Good interventions are reversible and don’t compromise the original.
The other route is a studio that already works with them and coordinates the work, which is what we do at Nomadas. And if you’re choosing a team, here are some guidelines on how to choose a good architect.
Frequently asked questions
What original features does an Eixample flat usually have?
The most common are Catalan vault ceilings, hydraulic tile or Nolla mosaic floors, plaster cornices, wooden doors and windows and stained glass, plus a gallery facing the block courtyard and wrought-iron balconies. The combination varies according to the renovations each building has been through.
How do I know if my hydraulic tiles are original and can be recovered?
Measure the edge of a loose piece and look for two layers, the coloured one on top and the grey one beneath. Since wear usually stays in the upper layer, many can be polished, but only a survey confirms the real condition.
Is it more expensive to keep original features than to replace them with new ones?
It depends on the element and its condition, and there are no reliable figures to compare it in general. Bear in mind that replacing also adds demolition, rubble and new material, and that a lost original can’t be recovered. A realistic budget comes after the diagnosis.
Can Modernista elements be combined with a contemporary design renovation?
Yes. It works best when the new contrasts clearly, with today’s materials and lines, instead of imitating the old. A contemporary kitchen under a restored Catalan vault looks better than a mediocre reproduction.
What is protected and what permits do I need?
Start with the sheet in the Ajuntament’s heritage catalogue. If the work requires it, the heritage report is requested before the works file, and the Eixample ordinance governs façades, entrance halls and common elements.
Which architecture studio has experience with this kind of renovation in Barcelona?
Look for a team that has rehabilitated Eixample flats, knows how to read the catalogue and coordinates the specialist trades. Compare calmly and ask to see projects similar to yours.
Before throwing anything out, look at what you have
The next time you step on your hydraulic floor or glance up at the Catalan vault, think that you’re looking at the work of a whole network of trades from more than a century ago. Every flat that keeps what’s its own helps the neighbourhood go on telling its story, instead of turning into a succession of interchangeable homes.
Which original feature does your flat have, or which would you like to recover? Tell us in the comments and we’ll discuss it. And if you’re about to renovate and unsure what to keep, we can accompany you from the first visit to the last procedure.
