AS Project
- Architecture, interior design, landscaping and construction: ÁBATON
A new building in Madrid tailor-made for the family
The As Project is a new construction project in Madrid for a family with children who decided to trust once again in ABATON. It is a single-family house of 700m² with cross-laminated timber structure. ÁBATON developed the architecture and construction projects, along with the decoration, furnishing and landscaping projects, culminating the design in all aspects.
“New technologies have allowed us to build with an ecological and sustainable material, also achieving a better response in structural behavior.”
An architecture adapted to the terrain
The plot, of 3,000 m2, had a steep slope. This made it possible to create a two-story house, both in direct contact with the land and the outside vegetation. The first floor, with a north-facing garden and closest to the plot access, has its own entrance and houses the guest area, gym and other secondary uses, including the garage. The upper floor, linked to the larger garden area, groups all the family rooms. Bedrooms, living room, kitchen, projection room, porches…
“We sought a direct connection with the outdoors and for this we took advantage of the qualities of the terrain, achieving a design intimately linked to the vegetation.”
“All areas on this floor are cleverly placed to facilitate family gathering and interaction.”
A house design that revolves around unity
The entrance to the house is through a covered platform, which rises above the ground. This gives access to a hall in which the protagonist is a central courtyard, which functions as the core around which the common spaces revolve. This courtyard, glazed on four sides, visually connects all the surrounding spaces. It also allows light from the south to enter the northern part of the house and vice versa. It is designed to remain open during the temperate months of the year, thus replacing the circulation around the courtyard with paths through it. It also serves to ventilate the house during the night while the perimeter of the house remains closed, maintaining security.
Coherence between interior design and architecture
The furnishing and decoration of this area was designed to maintain the fluidity of the spaces linked by this central courtyard. In the same way, the importance of the total coherence demanded by the visual connection generated by the patio was also taken into account. On the south side of the courtyard is the dining room, connected to it by a large window that, due to its orientation and size, projects an indirect, intense and constant light onto the dining area. The fireplace, suspended from the deck, is open in all directions and separates the living and dining areas. Next to it is a built-in bench in front of a fixed glass, facing the courtyard to the west, through which the afternoon light enters. This light, together with the warmth of the fireplace, will make up one of the most enjoyable winter corners of the house.
The presence of the design in large windows
Adjacent to the dining room is the living room, open to the east and south, where the main porch, garden and pool appear. The large sliding windows in this area were designed so that they could disappear completely behind the walls, giving this space, which is 3.6 m high, the feeling of a large open porch. Although the circulation with the space to the east is open, visually this connection is minimal. With a ceiling height of only 2.5m, the feeling of intimacy is sought. At the back of the kitchen is the dining room, which opens to the garden through a window that, like others in the house, is completely hidden in the wall to transform the experience from indoor to outdoor space. Once in the master bedroom, facing south, one enjoys one of the most privileged views of the house and, at the same time, private thanks to its arrangement with respect to the other areas of the house. A large sliding door opens onto a sheet of water overflowing the pool, located on a higher level. The exposed concrete sheet on the kitchen ceiling projects southward to define the barbecue porch; this is the most open covered space in the house, with a panoramic view of the surrounding nature, linked to the kitchen, the garden, the pool and the orchard.
Spaces designed for those who are going to live them.
The children’s room, for study or play, and the cinema room, overlook the central courtyard in front of the dining room and bedrooms. The cinema room receives light from the south through the courtyard and is connected to both the children’s room and the common dressing room. The latter is part of the discourse of connection between family members: The bedrooms do not have closets for clothes. They are all located in the dressing room, which connects the bedrooms and bathrooms, thus becoming a place of meeting and interaction between them. Access to the master bedroom is through the bathroom-dressing room, flooded with light from a second patio with more tropical vegetation than the first. Again, large windows that are hidden in the wall make the bathroom and dressing room appropriate and enjoy an intimate outdoor space. The bathtub is recessed slightly, bringing it closer to the greenery of the courtyard. It was placed next to the west window to enjoy the afternoon sun in winter.
Landscaping for uniqueness
In front of the porch, adjacent to the swimming pool and at the request of the owners, a green meadow area was planned. The rest of the garden of this new building in Madrid can be included in the New Perennial landscape movement. With more than 50 species, it signifies, differentiates and accentuates the different spaces of the garden.
Photography: Belén Imaz