Ana Arana and Enrique Ventosa, founding partners of the Plutarco studio, sent us this attractive project full of details that interior design and decoration enthusiasts will enjoy, and which we are pleased to show our readers. They tell us about the development of the project step by step.
This project started as a facelift but the connection with the client was such that it ended up being an almost complete renovation. The biggest challenge for us was to understand the context in which the house is located, La Moraleja, an area of single-family homes on the outskirts of Madrid with a classic and traditional feel, and to be able to combine it with something much more contemporary, such as Plutarco.
The first thing we did was to propose a change of layout: to connect the kitchen with the living room and dining room as both open onto the garden and pool. We thus left a more private living area for the TV room and library, and another for the master bedroom with dressing room and en-suite bathroom. On the ground floor we find the rest of the bedrooms and in another wing of the house a social area for parties, gym and guest flat.
Our major contribution was a complex but refreshing mix of materials and colours that contrast with the traditional skeleton of the single family house but do not clash, on the contrary, the surprise when crossing the threshold of the entrance door is what makes this project unique. Dark ceilings, unique marble, oak wood and a black herringbone wood floor are some of the touches that give character to the space.
Chinese quartzite in shades of green, grey and black with very marked veins is chosen to connect all the spaces on the first floor. All the entrances that give access from the corridor and entrance hall to the different rooms are marked with this quartzite, which is also the one that marks the green tones of the main rooms.
The kitchen with a Mutina floor in different dark grey tones is composed of three main elements, the most functional area in warm grey tones and white silestone, the central island in green tones with Chinese quartzite and a central element in stainless steel and finally the tall units in oak wood. The large window in midnight blue – like the ceiling – visually connects the kitchen with the dining room and creates a dialogue where the person cooking does not feel excluded from the more social plans. This concept, which was introduced by Charlotte Perriand in 1952 in the Marseille Living Unit, is still very much in our minds.
The living room in a gradient of greens is the lightest area of the house. Two free-standing bar units connect with the dining area and minimalist shelves flank the fireplace to create the social lounge. The furniture chosen by Note design for Sancal, &tradition, carpets by Giancarlo Valle and chairs by Studio Persona for Pierre Frey make visible that mix between tradition and modernity that stands out in the house.
Juan Baraja ‘s large-format photographs help to promote the importance of chromaticism and the use of colour in the project. The privileged position of this room makes the sunset light make you think you are inside a painting by Sorolla, the Valencian painter who perfectly portrayed the sunsets of the Spanish Mediterranean.
The all terracotta library creates a feeling that envelops you. We always say that dark tones embrace you, and that was the aim of this room. Library-Office-TV room, this space had to be cosy and intimate. Oak wood that sets a rhythm becomes a bookshelf in the library part and the two bow-windows help to generate the office area on one side and the TV area on the other. Once again the furniture is a mix of design icons and new designers. The Standard sofa by Edra, Bahamante bar furniture and Indochino armchair by Cassina, Audo desk and Sancal armchairs.
The master bedroom is an explosion of earthy colours. The calatta viola marble we selected was a departure from the traditional bicolour and represented a wide range of warm colours where we drew inspiration for the chromatic palette of the room. The ceiling plane in dark blue, the floor plane in all Campaspero beige and the carpet and walls and tiling in pink and maroon tones.
The EX.T bathtub becomes the protagonist of the space as it is framed by the marble and Zellige tiling. The fully panelled bedroom in aubergine tones and fabric makes a visual effect by hiding the wardrobes behind the rhythm that runs through the room. Complete bedside tables by &Tradition, Parentesi lamp by Flos and textiles by Kvadrat complete the design.
On the ground floor we find the rest of the bedrooms where each one appropriates a colour and makes it their own, contrasting with the neutral tones of the corridor. The interior doors, like those on the upper floor, generate geometric games where the Uovo handles of the Olivari brand doors are emphasised.
We highlight one of the bedrooms where the duality of blues generates an interplay between the Mutina bathroom tiles and the DIN collection by Kostantin Grcic and its matt and gloss finishes, which we extrapolate to the rest of the room. This chromatic range matches the embroidered textiles by Pierre Frey. The bathrooms all have in common Arabescato marble, lacquered metals that make the shower enclosures with porthole and dark colours.
The social area for parties in the other wing of the house had to be versatile and durable. That is why we decided to use IQ Surface vinyl flooring designed by Note Design for the floor. From there we built the chromatic grid in wine and maroon colours. Through some curtains the space could change from a cinema room to a party room hiding the TV and the kitchen. The wine cellar in maroon colours and oak wood creates an intimate and special space.
Project: MRLJ128.
Renovación interior de una Vivienda unifamiliar.
Interior design: Plutarco.
Location: La Moraleja, Madrid.
Surface: 500 m2.
Photography: German Sáinz.
Plutarco
Plutarco is an architecture studio based in Madrid founded by Ana Arana and Enrique Ventosa in 2015. They design architecture, interiors, products, exhibition spaces…
They are flexible and enjoy working with new and different techniques. Combining their studies in architecture with art, food and design – their passions – generates a wide spectrum of bespoke projects with refreshing aesthetics and concepts. They like to take risks and avoid using the same solution twice. They believe in the power of colour and see it as another building material.
Plutarco
Quesada 2
28010 Madrid
hola@plutarco.design
plutarco.design
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