Pelleteria, the project developed by GRAS Reynés Arquitectos, is organized across four levels. The ground floor houses the entrance, parking, technical areas, and a spa zone—complete with a heated pool and sauna—that opens out onto the garden. The first floor contains the communal spaces, including a living room, dining room, kitchen, library, cinema room, and a loggia that connects to the outdoors. The second floor is dedicated to bedrooms, while the third floor features a bedroom alongside a covered terrace—equipped with a lounge area, dining space, and outdoor kitchen—offering views over the rooftops of Palma.
The intervention preserves the existing load-bearing walls and floor slabs, while incorporating a new vertical core containing a staircase and an elevator. The material palette combines reclaimed marés (a local sandstone) and Mallorcan limestone with pinyolet and Binissalem stone flooring, herringbone-patterned oak wood, lime-based mortars and paints, and traditional steel metalwork.
Pelleteria by GRAS Reynés Arquitectos. Photograph by José Hevia.
Project description by GRAS Reynés Arquitectos
Pelleteria: The transformation of a historic building into a contemporary residence in the center of Palma de Mallorca
The 1,000 m² project, located in the city’s historic Jewish Quarter (Call), organizes its layout around a central, sculptural staircase, a courtyard open on three sides with an accompanying garden, and a meticulous restoration of the original, locally-sourced materials. A comprehensive rehabilitation project that transforms a former building—once home to modest dwellings and workshops—into a single 1,000 m² private residence in the historic center of Palma.
Situated on the street from which it takes its name, the intervention respects the understated character of the original structure while hollowing out its interior to create a new home spread across four floors.
The core architectural strategy involved retaining only the existing load-bearing walls and floor slabs, while inserting a new vertical circulation core that houses both a staircase and an elevator. The staircase serves as the true protagonist of the design and the building as a whole; far from being merely functional, it stands as the heart of the project. Its presence defines each space, establishes vertical continuity throughout the residence, and lends it a unique identity.
The staircase transcends its role as a simple means of circulation, becoming a spatial experience in its own right.
"In Pelleteria, this central core organizes the home, connects its various dynamics, and turns the act of moving through the space into an essential part of domestic life. We wanted the residence to unfold through an ascending sequence where each floor—while maintaining its own autonomy—remains part of a unified spatial concept."
Guillermo Reynés.
A Mallorcan-style courtyard and a garden connected to the interior
Unlike the traditional building typologies found in the old town—which are typically enclosed on all four sides—Pelleteria features a distinctive rear courtyard that is open on three sides. The rear façade, designed in a “C” shape, maximizes the entry of natural light and offers unobstructed views of the back garden.
Layout of the residence
The ground floor houses the entrance vestibule, parking, technical areas, and a spa zone—complete with a heated pool and sauna—that opens onto the back garden. The historic exterior staircase has also been preserved, retaining its original materials.
The first floor contains the home’s public areas: the living room, dining room, kitchen, library, cinema room, and a new loggia, conceived as an outdoor porch. A portion of this level is dedicated to an outdoor space, effectively extending the garden into the interior of the home. As on the floor below, the enclosure facing the garden is defined by a large steel-and-glass window wall, intensifying the connection between the house, the courtyard, and the light. The second floor is home to the bedrooms.
Finally, the third floor reveals the house’s ultimate surprise. A large bedroom is situated at the rear, while the front—mirroring the approach taken on the first floor—becomes a covered outdoor space. This area features a spacious terrace overlooking the city rooftops, complete with an outdoor living and dining space and its own kitchen. In this way, the interior and exterior merge, creating a domestic setting open to the sky of Palma.
Local materials and passive strategies
The intervention prioritizes the use of traditional materials, including those reclaimed from the original structure. The material palette combines existing marés (a local sandstone) and Mallorcan limestone masonry; pinyolet (a traditional Mallorcan cobblestone) in the entrance vestibule; and new flooring made of Binissalem stone, finished in two distinct textures. Herringbone-patterned oak floors, lime-based mortars and paints, and traditional steel metalwork complete a material palette that does not seek to impose itself, but rather to extend the building’s history.
The project’s sustainability is defined by a commitment to restoring the building, reusing its original materials, and employing passive strategies inherent to this type of architecture—such as thick facade walls and the thermal inertia characteristic of traditional construction. This foundation is complemented by a well-insulated new roof and a climate control system that uses heat pumps with energy recovery.
Interiors
The interior design was developed in collaboration with the studio Bornhold, which opted for a selection of furniture featuring timeless lines and high-quality materials, all integrated into the architecture.
