Native agency Studio Noju has up to date a two-story residence in Madrid’s Torres Blancas constructing with a renovation that is still “in fixed dialogue” with the residence’s authentic design.
Designed in 1961 by architect Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oíz, Torres Blancas is a 71-meter-tall uncovered concrete tower with cylindrical varieties that create bulbous balconies on the facade and curved rooms inside.
Studio Noju overhauled unit 1040 — the Brutalist constructing’s largest residence — to steadiness its historical past with up to date design particulars, in response to the corporate.
“Our inside design proposal for the residence is impressed by the unique concepts the architect got here up with for the constructing,” studio co-founder Antonio Mora instructed Dezeen.
A key a part of the undertaking concerned increasing the outside space of the primary flooring residence from 15 to almost 80 sq. meters to create the out of doors area that existed earlier than the tower’s a number of earlier renovations.
This extension added terraces that function curved floor-to-ceiling glass and crimson slatted shutters. These open onto vibrant inexperienced ceramic tiles that take cues from 1960s interiors and kind built-in benches, fountains and planters that observe the meandering contours of the terraces.
“The outside areas had been as soon as once more consolidated right into a steady terrace that follows the define of the unique plan,” defined Mora, who based Studio Noju with Eduardo Tazón in 2020.
“There’s a fixed dialogue between lots of the options we proposed within the inside design of the residence with these proposed greater than 50 years in the past by Sáenz de Oiza.”
Guests enter the residence right into a semi-circular lobby with black Segovia slate and wine-red paneling – the identical supplies used within the constructing’s widespread areas.
The open-plan floor flooring is interrupted by meandering white structural partitions, resembling a partition in the lounge that has repetitive round openings.
A steady, custom-made countertop in a delicate shade of inexperienced varieties the kitchen space, which features a bulbous sink that echoes the cylindrical facade of Torres Blancas.
Mild displays from the unique tinted glass brick home windows and illuminates the sleek resin flooring and metallic wall accents.
White geometric steps create a floating staircase with an authentic polished brass balustrade resulting in the primary flooring. Upstairs, a succession of bedrooms are characterised by oak ceilings that distinction with the intense white ceilings downstairs.
Every toilet is playfully color-coded with particular person vibrant tile mosaics, complemented by sconces, mirrors and cupboards that observe the rounded shapes discovered all through the residence.
“The one [mosaic] the fabric allowed us to handle all the weather of the lavatory resembling bathe areas, sinks, partitions and flooring, referencing an analogous materials technique used within the authentic design,” stated Mora.
Adjoining to the main bedroom, the first-floor terrace consists of a big, green-tiled out of doors bathtub lined with a sheer curtain, which is flanked by crops which were positioned to soak up the water produced by bathing.
“The factor we’re most happy with is the terrace home really feel that has been reclaimed within the residence,” mirrored Mora.
“The unit once more revolves across the exterior areas, and these appear to merge with the inside via the curved traces of inexperienced tiles that circulation out and in of the residing and eating space,” added the architect.
“Our greatest problem was discovering a steadiness between honoring the constructing however on the similar time imbuing the inside design with our language.”
Studio Noju featured an analogous colourful model in its debut undertaking, which concerned the renovation of an open-plan residence in Seville.
Torres Blancas was among the many buildings captured by photographer Roberto Conte in his collection of brutalist buildings in Madrid.
The photograph is by Jose Hevia.