A 750-Square-Foot Madrid Apartment Gets a Necessary—and Very Curvy—Makeover
It’s not quite that Emiliano Domingo had an epiphany the very first time he entered this Madrid apartment, but almost. “I saw it very clearly from the beginning,” he says of the white microcement floor and matching walls that would be at the center of his redesign. A single stroke was all it took for the architect, founder ofBardo, to transform an awkward floor plan into a home where movement flows naturally. “We have very much internalized the idea that we need edges and straight lines to define spaces but this is not always the case, sometimes it is better to opt for other geometries,” Emiliano explains.
Cotton Candy (the name the studio came up with for the project) was originally a750-square-foot apartmentlaid out along a hall, which provided access to the terrace, small kitchen, bathroom, and two bedrooms. Its excessively elongated character meant many square feet of space were used for circulation. Emiliano’s first step required a miracle: redistributing the rooms in a more organic way. “Personally, I like to use the curve to change environments and make them more practical and pleasant, and in this case, it was the best solution to get rid of dead spots,” he explains. Along with the arches, the curves allow the home to take on a new rhythm, imbuing it with a sensuality while also making the most of every inch of space. “People say that when they come in, they feel like touching everything. It’s an inviting place,” Emiliano says.
The curve, which served as the central axis of the project, is replicated in other elements such as the bookshelf in the living room, the dining room table, theHKLiving sofachosen by the studio, the custom-designed lamps, and even the birch cabinets in the bedroom. And, of course, we also see it in what is undoubtedly the star of the home: the salmon pink wall that hides the bathroom and serves as the backdrop of the living room. “The client was very sold on the color and also wanted everything to be very hidden from view. We used a type of ribbing that not only adds texture, but also conceals the door to the bathroom, camouflaging it,” Emiliano explains.
In this way, the immaculate white of the walls of the home and the microcement floor become inviting. “It may not be fully apparent in pictures, but in person the feeling is fun, elegant, and very cozy.”
独自挑战永远不会到来,巴Arquitectura team also had to contend with a ceiling that was just 7.5-feet high and, as they would discover when they started work, with uneven beams. “The original builders seemed to have installed the ceiling in a hurry. Each beam was a different size and appearance and none worth preserving,” Emiliano says. Although they could not be reused in the final project, this unexpected discovery allowed the team to incorporate plaster moldings at certain points, create skylights, and increase the feeling of spaciousness.
This story was first published byADSpain. It was translated by John Newton.
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Maru Serrano1/7On the shelves are decorative objects including a cat-shapedLucky Dragon by Diminuto Cielo, aMy Spaceship porcelain rocket by Seletti, and a Vit vase by Märta Grunditz, for Guldkroken.
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Maru Serrano2/7A view of the living room from the kitchen. Although the rooms are separate, the connection between them improves the circulation in the Madrid apartment.
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Maru Serrano3/7On the left side of the kitchen, next to the HKLiving chairs, Emiliano used a mirror to enhance the feeling of spaciousness and designed a simple tubular lamp that transfers the architectural concept of the curve to the furnishings.
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Maru Serrano4/7To add warmth, the team used a granite from India.
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Maru Serrano5/7In contrast to the white microcement used inside, and for practical reasons as well, the exterior is covered with a gray microcement. The studio also designed a custom pergola with an awning in the same salmon color as the interior wall.
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Maru Serrano6/7The color palette in the bathroom is a basic black and white. The dark frame around the shower and window provides a playful counterpoint.
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Maru Serrano7/7After work started and the ceilings (not particularly high to begin with) were opened, the studio’s team found a network of beams that were irregular in shape and distribution. They took advantage of the situation to raise the ceiling in areas where it was possible, creating cove lights like this one in the bedroom.
