Before & After: With a Little Help From Friends, an Architect Couple DIY Their Bilbao Apartment

First, they tore down the walls of the former boarding house. Then, they crafted an earthy interior with weathered wood, lime plaster, and glints of polished steel.

Spliced by the Nervión River, Bilbao is a city of beguiling contrasts. In the old quarter, Casco Viejo, on the right bank, the Santiago Cathedral ascends above winding cobblestone streets dating back some 700 years. On the left bank, a newer Bilbao has been emerging since the early 1990s, when a public company called Bilbao Ria 2000 was formed to revitalize industrial areas hit hard by economic crises in the ’70s and ’80s.

Join Dwell+ to Continue

Subscribe to Dwell+ to get everything you already love about Dwell, plus exclusive home tours, video features, how-to guides, access to the Dwell archive, and more. You can cancel at any time.

Try Dwell+ for FREE

Already a Dwell+ subscriber? Sign In

Melissa Dalton
Dwell Contributor
Melissa Dalton is a freelance writer in Portland, Oregon, who has been writing for Dwell since 2017. Read more of her work about design and architecture at melissadalton.net.

Published

Last Updated