The Madrid B&N House, a project by studio A-cero, consists in the redesign of an existing property in need of an image upturn. The two main issues at hand were the quest for a renewed external image, along with an interior which would have a more contemporary feel to it, with particular attention to the role played by light.
Joaquin Torres and Rafael Llamazares’
A-cero can count renowned clients of the like of Citroen, Instituto Cervantes, L’Oréal and Inditex. As per its intrinsic design philosophy, when tackling this project the studio focused not only on the aesthetic aspects but also detected a need for a functional reform in the house structure and aimed at creating a new concept which would harmoniously combine these two facets of architecture design. Careful to hold on to the same concept throughout the entire process, the why is deemed as important as the how and this is something that can be remarked when it comes to the modern, futuristic, impression proposed by the B&N House.
Once spotted for the first time it is easy to instantly detect the A-cero mark on a certain project. A-cero embraces radical contemporary forms, unorthodox structures of domestic spaces, extreme curves and angles and monumentality. But also, well-tamed green lawns, swimming pools, flat roofs and surfaces which elongate horizontally as opposed to growing in height. Dominant colors being rather cool ensembles of white, grey and black.
These patterns can indeed be spotted when observing the current B&N House outlook. The first impression is of looking at a spaceship which has set itself in a verdant lot. When considering the exterior of the house, the main changes were made to its south side. A more modern and organic look was achieved through forms obtained with aluminum foil, undulating lines which are a signature of the design studio. Structural modifications to the main plan were also made, the living area expanded and the porch extended leveraging the volumes of the new roof projections.
When it comes to the interior, the main issue for the house was lack of light. The space of the large ground floor living area was broken out into different sections: dining area, reading area, TV area, plus kitchen and service area. The upstairs floor consisting of bedrooms, with stairs endowed with a sculptural railing connecting the two. The light would then infiltrate and irradiate the floor from above openings in unusual cuts and shapes, but also come in from large windows facing the surrounding garden. Some original furniture was kept, but new pieces have been designed by A-cero, following the lead of white as a dominant color for the interiors, complemented by light brown tones and warmer colors for the bedrooms.
13/12/2012
Tags: architecture design, interior designer
