More stories

  • Old Spanish workshop converted into tactile family home by Nomos

    Tactile bricks and pinewood partitions decorate the La Nave apartment, which Nomos has slotted into the concrete shell of a disused workshop in Madrid, Spain.La Nave was developed by Nomos as a family home for two of its partners, Ophélie Herranz and Paul Galindo, who head up its Spanish office.
    The project has since been shortlisted for apartment interior of the year at Dezeen Awards 2020.

    Wood and brick partitions divide the old workshop’s concrete shell
    La Nave was originally used as a large, open-plan printshop arranged around a structural concrete grid measuring 34 metres in length and 10 metres in depth.

    Nomos’ intervention retains this structure but converts its open layout into a continuous loop of living areas, arranged around enclosed private rooms.

    The new partitions are positioned at angles to the outer walls
    “La Nave is the transformation of an industrial space into a place for life, which takes place as a continuous sequence, with very little difference between work and family leisure,” said the studio, which also has offices in Geneva and Lisbon.
    “La Nave’s plan escapes any typological definition. It results from the search for new spatialities required by existing constraints.”

    Bricks and wood were used to warm the existing concrete structure
    Nomos’ initial plan for the apartment was to position the enclosed spaces and wet areas on the rear wall – opposite to the only facade with windows.
    However, La Nave’s existing plumbing is attached to the central concrete columns, meaning the wet areas had to be placed centrally too.

    The bedrooms and bathrooms are enclosed by the new partitions
    To achieve this while ensuring natural light could enter the depths of the apartment, Nomos positioned the wet areas and enclosed rooms in line with the central columns, but at a 45-degree angle to the outer walls.
    They are divided into two parts and set back from windows, making space either side and in between to ensuring light from the windows can pass through.

    Glazed bricks line the wet areas and bathrooms
    “The typological strategy started from the search for the optimal location of the service spaces,” Herranz told Dezeen.
    “The wet cores had to reach the downspouts, attached to the central pillars, but we wanted to move them towards the back of the space, to offer more light to the living spaces. We rotated them 45 degrees and explored the potential of the diagonal.”

    Original beams and brickwork add warmth to pared-back Madrid apartment

    The layout creates a continuous loop of shared living spaces around the perimeter of the apartment, which are used for work, play and dining.
    “We never thought of creating a large, open, loft-like space, but rather a sequence of well-defined spaces, which would give rise to multiple situations,” Herranz added.

    Bedrooms are positioned through the centre of the apartment
    By setting the private living spaces away from the windows, Nomos also made space for a “winter garden” along the window wall.
    This area doubles as a thermal buffer – a space that separates living areas from the outside to reduce dependence on artificial heating and cooling.

    The “winter garden” doubles as a thermal buffer
    The predominant material throughout the renovation is glazed brick, finished in white and cobalt blue, teamed with a pinewood framework and MDF panels.
    The materials were chosen by Nomos to complement the existing concrete structure while providing the space with a warmer and more homely atmosphere.

    Patterns are made with glazed and unglazed bricks
    “The qualities of traditional materials provide comfort and reinforce the idea of home, of domesticity, in contrast to the surrounding industrial space,” said Herranz.
    “The glazed bricks provide a note of brightness and colour typical of a more ornamental language.”

    A loop of living spaces wraps the central rooms
    The bricks were used to build most of the partitions, with their glazed sides lining bathrooms and kitchen and the unglazed faces exposed in the living rooms.
    Their glazed and unglazed sides are also alternated in places to create patterns.

    A kitchen aligns with old workshop’s existing plumbing
    The majority of furniture in the space is bespoke, designed by Nomos from pine wood specifically for La Nave.
    This includes a low-lying, circular table and coffee table made from pine, and terrazzo detailing made with old flooring that was removed from the workshop.
    Other projects that are shortlisted for apartment interior of the year at Dezeen Awards 2020 a sea-facing residence in Jaffa by Pitsou Kedem and a two-storey dwelling by Coffey Architects that is covered in thousands of wooden blocks.
    Photography is by Luis Asin.

    Read more: More

  • Minimal Fantasy holiday apartment in Madrid is almost completely pink

    Patricia Bustos Studio channelled “aesthetic madness” to create the striking bright-pink interior of this rentable apartment at the heart of Madrid, Spain.Locally-based Patricia Bustos Studio applied 12 different shades of pink throughout the Minimal Fantasy apartment, which is meant to offer a bolder take on the typical holiday rental.
    “We wanted to do something eye-catching and not go unnoticed, since in Madrid the offer of vacation rentals is enormous and you have to differentiate yourself if you want to have a recurrence in the rentals,” the studio told Dezeen.

    Surfaces throughout the apartment are bright pink
    The 55-square-metre apartment is set inside a 1950s residential building that’s a stone’s throw away from Madrid’s lively Puerta del Sol square.

    It formerly played host to just one bedroom and one bathroom, but Patricia Bustos Studio reconfigured the floor plan so that it can comfortably accommodate slightly larger groups of holiday goers.

    An arched doorway looks through to the kitchen
    There are now two bedrooms and an additional bathroom. The kitchen has also been separated from the living area so that, if necessary, it can sleep another two guests.
    With structural changes out the way, the studio set about creating the apartment’s stand-out interior – which is almost exclusively pink.

    Cabinetry in the kitchen is a mix of blue, pink and gold
    “Except for the distribution, which had to be practical, the rest of the project has been an aesthetic madness to take the visitor out of their comfort zone and make them dream,” explained the studio.
    “Pink is already the colour of a whole generation… the generation of the brave, those who are not afraid of change,” it continued.
    “Pink vindicates the fall of stereotypes – everything is possible, nothing is planned or established and that’s the beauty of it. There are no rules, or rather that everyone has their own.”

    Pink cushions and faux-fur throws dress the beds
    In the living area, bubblegum-pink paint has been applied across the walls and ceiling. A flecked pink laminate covers the floor and a chunky L-shaped plinth that winds around the corner of the room, topped with plush pink sofa cushions.
    Guests can gather for meals around the oval-shaped pink dining table, which is surrounded by dining chairs upholstered in metallic pink fabric with an iridescent finish.

    One of the beds is supported by a pink-tile platform
    The monochromatic colour scheme is interrupted in the adjacent kitchen, where the cabinets are covered in a mixture of blue, pink and gold geometric shapes.
    Worktops are lined with glazed, blush-pink tiles.

    Child Studio looks to worker’s cafes for pink interiors of London’s Humble Pizza

    These same tiles have been used to clad the side tables and supporting mattress base in one of the apartment’s bedrooms.
    In the other bedroom, the mattress is pushed up against a scalloped pink headboard. Textural interest is added throughout by baby-pink lamé soft cushions and faux-fur throws.
    Arched sliding doors can be drawn back to reveal pink-tile bathrooms, complete with pink-frame vanity mirrors and shiny pink shower curtains.

    Bathrooms lie behind arched sliding screens
    Other than a few spherical pendant lights, trailing ivy plants and neon art piece, Patricia Bustos Studio hasn’t incorporated a lot of decoration in the apartment.
    Some elements, like the stepped blocks which display books and other trinkets, are meant to riff off La Muralla Roja – a housing development designed by Spanish architect Ricardo Bofill in 1968, distinguished by its maze of interlocking stairways.
    “[Bofill] creates a mysterious and infinite space with the perfect transformation between 2D and 3D, and with several elements that play with the optical illusion,” added the studio.

    Shiny pink curtains and pink-frame mirrors complete the bathrooms
    Several other architects and designers haven’t shied away from making extensive use of the colour pink – last year, Child Studio covered the interior of a vegan pizza restaurant in London with candy-pink Formica.
    Mar Plus Ask also washed the walls of a cave-like guesthouse in Spain with blush-pink stucco.
    Photography is by JC de Marcos.

    Read more: More

  • Two-storey bookshelf rises inside renovated Madrid house

    Spanish architecture firm Zooco Estudio has covered the walls of this Madrid residence with bookshelves that span two levels.House 6 is a detached single-family home located in northern Madrid. Local studio Zooco Estudio overhauled the residence contrasting white interiors with pale wood cabinetry and herringbone patterned flooring.

    The centrepiece of the design is a white shelving unit that extends two floors and wraps around the walls of the house’s living room and dining area.

    On the lower level, the volume comprises dozens of rectangular cases for storing books, movies and electronics, including a mounted television. A series of narrow cubbies also occupy the space between a glass dining table and entryway creating storage for hanging apparel.

    “As a unifying element, a shelf rises colonising both living and lobby spaces,” the studio said. “This way we integrate aesthetic and functionality in one single element.”
    The shelves continue on the upper level with a rectangular volume along a hallway. Pendant light fixtures hang from the ceiling to illuminate the floor below.

    In the kitchen, pale oak fronts the cabinetry and details the base of a white kitchen island. White tiles form the splashback behind the sink and cover the rectangular range hood hanging above the island.

    Beta Ø Architects completes overhaul of X House in Madrid

    A spiral staircase with black metal steps is carved into the wall to create a sculptural focal point within the space.

    Upstairs the bedroom and bathrooms are concealed by a wall of slender wooden slats lacquered white. The narrow strips separate the master bedroom from the bathroom. A section of the millwork is intentionally left open to expose the shower.

    “A continuous view was required so you can see through the slats to the shower,” the studio added. “However, the private areas of the bathroom are completely hidden.”
    In the bathroom the studio has covered the walls and floors with white tiles and blue grouting. A geometric counter clad with blue tiles snakes across the ground and up the wall to form a storage closet in the space.

    Zooco Estudio is an architecture firm with offices in Madrid and Santander founded by Miguel Crespo Picot, Javier Guzmán Benito and Sixto Martín Martínez. The studio has also completed an art centre in Verín that comprises several granite buildings and a child play area built out of wood for a co-working office in Santa Monica, California.

    Other renovation projects in Madrid include a house with a permeable metal sculpture designed by Beta Ø Architects and an apartment by Lucas y Hernández Gil with sliding wall partitions.
    Photography is by Imagen Subliminal.
    Project credits:
    Project manager: Miguel Crespo Picot, Javier Guzmán Benito, Sixto Martín MartínezConstruction: Nimbo Proyectos S LLighting: Zooco EstudioFurniture design: Zooco Estudio

    Read more: More

  • Forte Forte fashion boutique in Madrid is filled with shapely details

    A pale geometric relief wall offsets brass and green-marble decor details in this Madrid boutique designed by creative duo Giada Forte and Robert Vattilana.Madrid’s Forte Forte store occupies a corner plot in Salamanca – a glamorous district of the city known for its boulevards lined with luxury fashion boutiques and upscale restaurants.

    It was designed by the brand’s co-founder, Giada Forte and her partner, art director Robert Vattilana.

    The pair devised opulent interiors for Forte Forte’s London, Milan, Tokyo and Paris stores, but wanted the new Madrid branch to have a more restrained aesthetic that still offered moments of “poetry and feminine delicacy”.

    “[The store] is charged with a sensual energy polarized on the offset of masculine and feminine, curves and angles, geometry and sentiment,” Forte and Vattilana explained.
    “There’s a recognizable grammar of surfaces, treatments, colors uniting the different spaces that’s born from our creative dialogue, but the narration takes on a different metric and tone.”

    An off-white relief wall that features a haphazard array of raised geometric shapes runs down one side of Forte Forte’s ground level.
    A structural column in the store has been given a similarly geometric form. It extends up through a circular opening in the ceiling that has been backlit to look as if natural light is beaming through from the outdoors.

    At the centre of the store is a low-lying semicircular bench perched on a mottled pink rug. The flooring that runs underneath has been inlaid with mismatch cuts of grooved and plain stone, as well as tiny triangles made from emerald-green Iranian marble.
    The same veiny marble has been used to make the store’s door handle and its rounded service counter.
    Directly above the counter, thin brass stems have been loosely arranged in a grid-like formation to form a hanging sculpture. It supports a handful of warped glass orbs.

    Heavy gold velvet curtains help screen-off the cylindrical changing booth that dominates the rear corner of the store.
    Brass doors punctuated by small portholes can be pulled back to grant access to the inside of the booth, where teal-blue carpet has been fitted to match the blue underside of the curtains.

    Fashion sits alongside found objects at the Forte Forte boutique in Milan

    Garments are hung from spindly brass rails, while accessories and lifestyle items are presented on a set of brass shelves held up by a pole that’s been made to resemble an oversized bolt.

    A curving blush-pink staircase leads up to the store’s second floor. Forte and Vattilana have used the expansive landing that sits between the staircase’s two flights of steps as an additional display area.
    It’s dressed with a huge leafy plant, another brass clothes rail and an organically-shaped mirror.

    Forte Forte opened its first brick-and-mortar store in 2018 – until then, the brand’s clothing could exclusively be purchased online.
    The inaugural store in Milan has been decorated with a curious array of found objects including a nude sketch, a lump of coral and a bust of the goddess Venus that came from an old French foundry.

    Read more: More

  • Run Run Run cafe has a hanging vegetable garden and see-through showers

    More than food and drink is offered inside this healthy cafe in Madrid, where architecture practice Office for Political Innovations has included a host of quirky facilities. Run Run Run takes over a corner plot in Madrid’s Rios Rosas neighbourhood. The two-floor cafe, which also hosts a running club for locals, includes showers and lockers, […] More

  • in

    Original beams and brickwork add warmth to pared-back Madrid apartment

    Architect Leticia Saá has woven historical features such as exposed brickwork and wooden pillars into the minimal interior of this open-plan apartment in Madrid. Located in Madrid’s Lavapiés neighbourhood, the two-bedroom apartment is spread across the top floor of a three-storey residential building that dates back to 1900. The apartment had been unoccupied for 35 […] More