In the heart of Madrid’s southern districts, where urban fabric is dense and space is a premium, BURR Architecture has executed a masterclass in transformative design. Their latest project, Bonito, challenges the conventional understanding of urban living by converting a disused former furrier’s shop into a fully-functional and luminous compact home. This project demonstrates that spatial intelligence, not square footage, is the true currency of modern domesticity.
The original layout presented a significant architectural puzzle. The floor plan was split into two narrow bands: one at street level with a generous four-meter ceiling, and another raised 1.8 meters above it, forming a mezzanine that allows vehicle access to a basement garage. This configuration created a challenging L-shaped section, making a staircase an absolute necessity. The architects, however, saw this not as a obstacle, but as the project’s central opportunity for innovative space-saving design.
The resulting staircase is the undeniable heart of the Bonito home conversion. It transcends its primary circulatory function to become a multifaceted storage hub. The void beneath its treads is ingeniously packed with concealed compartments that house everything from major appliances and a pantry to a surprisingly efficient, compact WC. A series of stepped doors, seamlessly following the stair’s profile, render these essential utilities almost invisible, preserving the home’s clean, uncluttered aesthetic. This approach is a hallmark of multifunctional interior architecture.
The split-level design naturally facilitates a smart organization of the domestic program. The circulation forms a graceful U-shape, guiding inhabitants from the public entrance on the lower level through to the more private upper mezzanine. This journey creates a natural gradient from public to private spaces, all within a remarkably compact footprint. The intelligent layout ensures that each area feels distinct and purposeful without the need for obstructive partition walls.
A key to defeating any sense of claustrophobia is the home’s strong connection to the outdoors and its clever environmental strategies. Both levels open onto internal courtyards; the lower, more public space connects to a communal patio, while the upper, private area opens onto a dedicated terrace. Furthermore, strategically placed openings on both façades enable excellent cross ventilation, a passive cooling technique that is amplified by the open-plan nature of the interior. This creates a bright and airy atmosphere that defies the home’s modest dimensions.
One of the project’s most distinctive features is its creative response to an existing constraint. Located beneath a large residential block, the ceiling was traversed by an unavoidable tangle of shared building services. BURR Architecture’s solution was both practical and poetic: they introduced a sweeping half-barrel vault in the public portion of the home. This elegant intervention acoustically and visually shields the utilities while lending an ironic, yet welcoming, sense of monumentality to this ingeniously transformed urban dwelling in Madrid.