StudioMadera has renovated a 160-square-metre Brasilia Apartment in Madrid, Spain. The project involved creating an open-plan living space for an urban couple, with areas for socialising, working, and relaxing. StudioMadera aimed to provide natural light and ventilation while offering a mix of industrial and cosy aesthetics in the updated interiors.

Open-plan social area

The team were asked to reconfigure the 1960s apartment to provide a large open space for socialising, as well as add a new work area and a main bedroom designed to resemble a spa. “When undertaking the renovation, we distributed the private spaces on the sides of the apartment, leaving a large central space for the social area,” StudioMadera said. “In this way, we were able to bring the natural light from the windows on the main façade into the flat, promoting better lighting and natural ventilation.”

Accents of dark-grey panelling and Ceppo di Gre stone tiles, a blue-grey stone, give the interiors an industrial feel, the team said. These are contrasted by textured clay walls and oak wood used on the floors and some of the walls to “contrast its warmth with the environment.” The open-plan living area has a central island and a bench area with a round table that “can also serve as a comfortable work area.”

Indoor garden

StudioMadera arranged the dining table close to the apartment’s work area, which has a curtain-like separator from Vescow that adds an “intimate atmosphere.” “Between the living area and the dining area we kept the exposed concrete structure, giving the space an aesthetic with a certain industrial air,” the studio said. An indoor garden was added behind the dining table to give greenery to the space and views from the different rooms.

Although the apartment also has an outdoor terrace, the clients, who “are plant lovers,” wanted the option of a view of the garden from inside, the studio said. “The idea was to be able to locate this green space where it could be visually accessed from any point in the social area, thus creating an important focal point inside the home,” StudioMadera added.

Integrated workspace

The apartment’s work area is integrated into the living room and dining space but doesn’t have a wall separator. “The work area is set back, it is not closed, but we proposed a curtain-like separator to integrate or privatize this space,” the studio said. The ecru-coloured curtain from Vescow has technical acoustic characteristics that help muffle sound. “It also allows the open space to be compartmentalized,” StudioMadera said. The designers also added custom-designed storage with shelves and display cases for the owners, who “are passionate about music,” and decorated it with dark-brown furniture, including a leather armchair and a couch.

Access to the private bedroom area “is through a flush door with the oak wood panelling that covers the dining room wall and continues to surround the hall area.” StudioMadera added fluted-glass sliding doors to open and close the bedroom and allow for natural light to filter through the room. The bedroom area has a modern egg-shaped bathtub sheltered between the fluted-glass doors. The ceiling above it features wooden panelling and dim lights.