"We Wanted It to Feel a Little Provocative" — Inside a Madrid Renovation Where Terracotta, Steel, and Latex Combine to Tongue-in-Cheek Effect

When Archive For Space co-founders Arabella Maza and Stephen Maginn took on the renovation of an apartment in Madrid, they confronted a remarkable challenge: transforming a space composed of small, disconnected rooms and little natural light into a sequential configuration that responded to the owners' fluid way of living.

The 80-square-meter property was located within a 1900s building and, in the tradition of much of the Spanish capital's 20th-century residential architecture, its layout was narrow and heavily compartmentalized, reflecting an approach of segmentalized domesticity.

"These apartments were designed very differently to the homes we live in today," explain the designers. "They were made up of generous, well-proportioned rooms rather than open-plan spaces. The kitchens were often quite small and included a larder built beneath the timber windows, with a ventilated mesh opening onto the internal patio to help keep food cool before refrigeration."

Flexibility was one of the briefing's keywords. The apartment owners, a creative couple, desired a space that could easily respond to changing needs, functioning as a place to live, work, and host friends.

Thus, the resulting floor plan incorporated two bedrooms — one of which offers versatility as an office, guest room, or nursery — with two ensuite bathrooms, a kitchen with a movable island, and a living area.

Befittingly, the latter faces the street, embracing the natural light that comes through the balconies, while the bedrooms are placed around the internal patio to benefit from a quieter, darker environment that encourages rest.

"Not every space needs to feel the same. What matters to us is the procession between rooms, the sequence of moving from one to the next, because it's the contrast that does the work: brightness only reads as bright next to something darker," say the Archive for Space co-founders.

To ensure cohesion, a sense of repetition connects the spaces throughout. The designers played with color, settling on pale yellow for walls and ceilings and mimicking Spanish sunlight throughout the apartment.

Textural accents begin in the shape of draped linen curtains by the balconies' windows and evolve into radiator covers, cabinet skirting, door window curtains, or textile dividers dividing the bedroom and en-suite bathroom. Meanwhile, darker accents appear as black Ceramic Connection tiles in the bathroom or the black-painted kitchen ceiling.

Sitting at the heart of the apartment, the kitchen encapsulates many of its central ideas. On one hand, it bridges the public and the private through the interplay of light and shadow. On the other, its aforementioned black ceiling surprises in its intimacy, making the room feel unexpectedly cocooning.

Echoes of vernacular Spanish housing are made evident in the de obra kitchen, with a built-in construction, and the plastered walls, offset by the ultracontemporary stainless steel surfaces.

Contrasting materials are another one of the project's core principles. This revealed itself organically to the designers as they stumbled on the apartment's original terracotta tiles, which were buried underneath previous interventions.

"That was one of those moments where the building tells you what it wants to be," the duo share of their unveiling. They restored them, and a guiding principle of marrying old and new was established.

That's how elements including plaster cornicing, ceiling medallions, and timber shutters came to be preserved. The use of darker materials, the modern accents in stainless steel, and a choice of playful furnishings invite a lived-in, spontaneous counterpoint.

Along the way, solutions became awakenings, such as the stained glass window that connects the kitchen to one of the bedrooms, or the curtains that act as room dividers: "we wanted the apartment to feel slightly provocative at times; poetic, familiar, and comfortable, but with moments that feel edgier and a little unexpected," the designers explain, adding that they kept referring to it as "a grandmother in latex."

For them, there isn't just humor to the project, but also a real affection for old Madrid apartments and the lives already embedded within them. This affection extends and is intrinsic to the apartment's location, in the central neighborhood of Malasaña.

Alongside traditional architecture, a longstanding creative tradition permeates its streets, where a jovial ambience ripples through creative studios, independent shops, and long-standing bars: "it's not overly polished, and that's part of its charm."

Naturalness is behind the furniture choices. Adolf Loos inspired serene elements: note a Beliani sofa and Nordic Knots rug in the living room, alongside a classic wooden dining set, as well as the light textiles across curtains and bedspreads.

They cohabit alongside disruptive pieces, from a stainless-steel coffee table by The Good Living and a metal floor lamp by Six Dots, red lacquered side tables by Colin King for Zara Home in the main bedroom, or the metal Corston hardware in the restored doors.

A vintage floral chair found in Pamono introduces a quirky surprise in the living room, in conversation with a vintage floral wall hanging that acts as a headboard, or a second floral stool in the guest bedroom.

"I think interiors should have moments that don't take themselves too seriously," explain the designers. "Humor also makes a home feel more human. We wanted the apartment to feel collected rather than curated. Sometimes it's those slightly unusual moments that become the ones people remember."

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