curved glass partitions and light blue tones uplift this renovated house in madrid

 

‘blue glass’ in madrid: a duality between two worlds

 

Filled with daylight and calming hues, ‘Blue Glass’ is a freshly renovated apartment located in the youthful Chamberí neighborhood of Madrid. Led by Spanish studio Martín Peláez, the project respects the house’s original 20th-century aesthetics and structure by maintaining its two load-bearing walls and existing passageways. All the while, the architects began revamping the rest of the interior and adding glass block partitions to create new spaces. ‘A duality between two worlds is sought. The old, massive and opaque. The new, light and permeable,’ shares the studio. 

all images © Amores Pictures

 

 

pairing glass with sky-blue tones 

 

Martín Peláez (see more here) introduced the color blue as a chromatic memory echoing the house’s original state. ‘All the interior carpentry was found painted in that color. According to several neighbors, it is something very particular about these houses, which unfortunately is being lost with the different transformations carried out,’ the team notes. Following this criterion, the burgundy hydraulic tiles installed in the living room area were preserved, creating a carpet effect that reveals part of the house’s past and provides identity to the space. 

 

 

Complementing the light blue tone are geometric glass partitions found across the apartment and made of blocks with different degrees of opacity. The architects reserved the more glossy and transparent glass for the common areas (kitchen and living room) and the matte texture for the intimate zones (bathroom, master bedroom) to offer visual privacy without blocking out daylight. 

 

 

geometric balance and free-form aesthetics

 

Spanning 40 sqm, the ‘Blue Glass’ in Madrid houses two bedrooms, a full bathroom space, and interconnected living area, dining room, and kitchen. The overall interior is defined by soft geometries and curved lines to fluidly link and articulate the different environments of the open space. Contrasting those curvatures is the sharp, ladder-like form of the kitchen cabinets that provide sculptural and functional value.

 

Besides serving as storage for homeware and cooking, the cabinets also offer shelf space — creating interesting views from the dining room and living area. In addition, all storage volumes within the kitchen space are coated in blue, reinforcing the house identity while giving off a playful, visual accent.

 

 

As for furnishing, the team sought to flee from a finished and fixed image and adopt a more spontaneous, free-form aesthetic. ‘The bedside tables are two concrete blocks, the dining table is a pine table top with wheels, the coffee table is a mirror that levitates on a brick base, the sofa is a volume made up of upholstered foam modules supported on the ground, looking for horizontality as occurs with the Japanese mattress,’ elaborates Martín Peláez. 

 

 

 

 

project info:

 

name: Blue Glass

location: Chamberí, Madrid
architecture: Martín Peláez

client: private
area: 40 sqm
completion: April 2022
design team: Francisco Peláez, Ainhoa Martín
collaborator: Bárbara García Ordóñez
furniture design: Martín Peláez
decoration: Martín Peláez, Bárbara García Ordóñez
construction: RM
photography: Amores Pictures

 

 

 

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

 

edited by: lea zeitoun | designboom