Localization: Madrid, Spain
Client: SelectaHOME
Project 2017: Construction 2019
Program: Single family housing
Plot Area: 266m2
Built Area: 280m2
Dimensions: 18m x 4m
Architects: Clara Murado and Juan Elvira
Technical Architects: Alfonso del Castillo
Team: Christine Gutiérrez Chevalier, Victoria Bosch
Structure engineering consultant: Ezequiel Fernández Guinda
Technical systems engineering consultant: Tecnotec
Contractor: APRO Construction Management
Photography: Imagen subliminal
Kitchen suppliers: studio2
Lighting fixtures suppliers: Glumdesign
Mechanisms and switches suppliers: Hager
Sanitary ware suppliers: Roca
About Clara Murado and Juan Elvira
Murado & Elvira is a Madrid-based multidisciplinary office founded by Juan Elvira and Clara Murado in 2003, dedicated to innovative architecture and interior design.
Their work has been awarded in many national and international competitions and has been exhibited at prestigious venues such as the Mostra Internazionale di Architettura di Venezia or the Bienal de Arquitectura Española.
They have been finalists at the Norwegian national architecture prize Staten Byggeskikkpris 2012 and the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture Mies van der Rohe Award in 2019
They design relaxed and airy environments that allow for immediate personal appropriation on the part of the user. They propose a sustainable approach to design, where user participation, shared creativity, and building techniques seek to benefit both society and nature.
With a youthful team of professionals, their coming projects are covering different scales and scopes, from housing and renovations to public buildings.
Clara Murado studied architecture at ETSAM in Madrid and at IUAV in Venezia. She was awarded a Master’s Degree in Advanced Architecture Design from Columbia University in New York City.
She is an associate professor of Project Design at the Universidad de Arquitectura de Alcalá and visiting professor at national and international schools. Her love for graphic design and visual thinking led to the funding in 2015 of M&E Gráfico, the bi-dimensional twin of Murado & Elvira Architects.
Juan Elvira also studied architecture at ETSAM in Madrid and at IUAV in Venezia, where he met Clara. He also was awarded a Master’s Degree in Advanced Architecture Design from Columbia University in New York City. He obtained his Ph.D. degree with honors in 2015, with a thesis titled “Ghost Architecture.
Space and the production of Ambient Effects”. He is an associate professor of Project Design at ETSAM and visiting professor at national and international schools. He has recently published the book Ghost Architecture, a primer on spatial eroticism and architecture as a form of atmospheric enchantment.
The house is built in a long and narrow plot in a quiet residential area in Madrid, unused for years due to its unusual proportions. It accommodates the floor plan requirements inside a volume only 4 meters wide, resulting in a thin and compact prism.
On each level small outdoor spaces are inserted, allowing for a rich spatial experience while keeping the necessary privacy in a dense residential neighborhood.
This sequence encompasses a courtyard on the basement level, a garden with a swimming pool on the ground floor and a double-height terrace on the first floor to expand and complement the tight interior of the house. Thus, the usual sequence of stacked levels is challenged and turned into a dynamic vertical landscape.
The basement is illuminated through a dug patio that occupies the entire front of the plot. Over this void, a bridge connects the street directly to the garden and the entrance of the house.
The ground floor opens into the garden and the pool, which runs longitudinally along the edge. On this level, the living room and kitchen have large windows that allow the continuity of these spaces. Large perforated metal sliding shutters nuance the light. The circular cutouts of the sliding doors become the identity of the house.
On the first level, the main bedroom area occupies the whole floor, consisting of a bedroom, a walk-in closet, and a large bathroom. The bathroom connects to the main terrace in front of the volume.
This terrace is enclosed by double-height walls with some openings to keep privacy and enjoy views, like a room without a roof. A spiral staircase floats over this space, connecting the second floor to the solarium on the roof, where you can enjoy the wide views of the entire area.
