瑞铂健康俱乐部丨西班牙巴塞罗那丨MEAN*（中东建筑网络）

Architects:MEAN* (Middle East Architecture Network)

Year:2026

Photographs:Salva Lopez

Architect of Record:AK Studio

Category:Adaptive Reuse,Wellness Interiors

Concept And Design Architect:MEAN* Middle East Architecture Network

Client And Initiative:Repeat (ON Repeat), Mehrazin Davanipour and Niloufar Hosseinipour

Main Contractor:Arqfai

Mep Engineering:Metrico

Lighting Design:Leika Light

Brand Identity And Signage Design:A4 Design House

Custom Joinery:Benoît Duchesne

City:Barcelona

Country:Spain

Text description provided by the architects. Occupying a former ground-floor commercial unit, the existing interior carried the accumulated traces of successive tenants, including uneven walls, residual structures, and fragmented layouts. Local planning regulations required the exterior facade to remain untouched, concentrating all architectural intervention within the historic envelope. Within these constraints, the project operates as an architectural rehabilitation, transforming a deep and irregular interior into a continuous spatial sequence.

Repeat Wellness Club is an adaptive reuse project. Rather than relying on a singular gesture, the intervention unfolds through layered architectural transformations. Curved modular elements, consistent radii, and repeated geometries establish a shared logic that aligns structure, enclosure, and technical systems. This approach absorbs the interior's accumulated layers without erasing them, allowing coherence to emerge while preserving spatial depth.

Programmatically, the plan is organised around a progression from activity to recovery. On the ground floor, the reception area sits between the primary Pilates studio and a small food and beverage pop-up operated by Nudes, a local healthy food and coffee brand, forming a social pause at the centre of the plan. The main Pilates studio anchors the most active zone, while quieter programs are positioned deeper within the space. Sauna and cold plunge facilities sit adjacent to the locker rooms and away from primary circulation, creating a contained environment for recovery. On the mezzanine level, infrared therapy and massage treatment rooms are arranged alongside a second Pilates studio, extending the sequence from movement to rest.

Across the interior, an expressive and fluid architectural language takes shape. Organic forms and monochromatic hues reference the curves and proportions of the human body. Curved corners are applied consistently across walls, thresholds, and built-in elements to guide circulation, soften transitions, and frame the exercise spaces. Spatial continuity supports ease of movement and accessibility without reliance on signage or graphic markers.

Material choices reinforce this sensibility in contrast to the form. Natural clay walls introduce tactility, depth, and a spectrum of skin-toned hues that shift across the space. Continuous microcement floors provide a smooth and resilient base, allowing colour, curvature, and movement to remain visually dominant. A secondary architectural skin wraps ceilings and columns throughout the interior, integrating structure, lighting, and building services into a continuous curved surface that softens the existing structural grid and amplifies spatial harmony.

Historic construction traditions are acknowledged through the retention of the existing Catalan vault geometry. Rendered in clay, the vaults remain legible as defining architectural elements. Bespoke linear lighting follows their rhythm, providing even illumination across the arches while preserving their presence throughout the day.

A modular motif composed of rounded square geometries operates as a unifying architectural system across the project. Deployed at multiple scales, the motif extends from the handcrafted ceramic feature wall developed in collaboration with Ceràmica Cumella to the staircase balustrade, folded steel steps, bespoke furniture, and modular skins that integrate existing structure and building services. Variations in proportion and colour allow the system to remain coherent while accommodating difference, embedding inclusivity through form, scale, and material rather than representation.

Circulation between levels is articulated by a custom-designed staircase. Fabricated to balance strict building code requirements with spatial efficiency, the stair features treads that reduce incrementally in depth to maintain the required clearance below. Each tread is formed from a single folded steel plate, producing a continuous, softened geometry. A bespoke railing incorporates the same modular motif found throughout the project.

To accommodate the second Pilates studio, the existing mezzanine was structurally reinforced and reconfigured. The upper level was enclosed to provide acoustic separation, while two new openings were inserted between the structural columns supporting the mezzanine to introduce daylight into the deep interior. These voids reveal the thickness between levels, allowing light to reach the lower studio while maintaining visual continuity. Air-conditioning ductwork is integrated within the projecting mezzanine volume and distributes air to the ground-floor training space below, with the volume set back to maintain clear circulation.

Conceived as a layered architectural assembly rather than a singular object, the upper studio volume is wrapped in handcrafted ceramic tiles. Varying in proportion and tone, the tiles form a feature wall that anchors the contemporary intervention while referencing traditional Catalan craft. Although the historic exterior remains fully preserved, the interior identity is legible from the street. Warm tones and curved forms radiate through the large storefront windows, creating a clear contrast with the building's restrained Catalan Modernisme facade without altering the protected exterior. Repeat Wellness Club demonstrates how architectural rehabilitation, formal continuity, and material expression can transform a constrained historic interior into a spatially fluid environment defined by movement, warmth, and inclusivity.

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