yinjispace

INTERIOR
Archive for Space
PHOTOGRAPHY
Enric Badrinas
EDITOR
Gina
Collection

July 2026 | Madrid, Spain - London and Mallorca-based architecture and interiors studio Archive for Space has completed the renovation and interior design of a reconfigured 80 sqm apartment in Madrid's Malasaña neighbourhood. Known as Jesús del Valle, the project balances the beauty and irregularities of the original early twentieth-century building with more expressive contemporary interventions throughout, creating interiors shaped by what the studio describes as 'traditional punk'; rebellious but romantic, subversive but grounded.

Completed for a creative couple with nomadic sensibilities and a fluid way of living, Archive for Space were briefed to create an apartment to function simultaneously as a home, office and entertaining space while remaining generous enough for friends to stay. Working within the constraints of a shared 1900s building, major structural intervention was intentionally avoided. Instead, Archive for Space reorganised the apartment through planning, material continuity and spatial flow, creating two bedrooms, two ensuite bathrooms and a large statement kitchen within the long and unusually narrow footprint of the original plan.

Making the space work spatially became what the studio describes as "the puzzle" of the project. Originally heavily compartmentalised, the apartment was reorganised to create a clearer distinction between entertaining and private spaces. The living areas were moved towards the street-facing elevation, taking advantage of the apartment's decorative balconies, natural ventilation and shifting Spanish light, while the bedrooms were organised around the quieter internal patio. Carefully aligned openings, softened thresholds and repeated materials allow light and movement to travel more fluidly throughout the apartment, creating an interior that feels unexpectedly generous despite the compact proportions of the plan.

The entire direction of the project shifted early into the renovation with the discovery of the apartment's original terracotta flooring beneath a layer of carpet, its rich earthy tones subsequently informed much of the wider material palette. The tiles were carefully restored and sympathetically infilled where damaged, becoming both the visual and conceptual foundation of the apartment. Running throughout the living spaces, the flooring shifts subtly in pattern between rooms, from more traditional checkerboard arrangements in the kitchen through to geometric diamond formations elsewhere, grounding the interiors with colour, cohesion and a strong sense of history.

Natural light plays a significant role throughout the project. Carefully aligned openings, original glazed doors and windows allow daylight to travel surprisingly deeply into the narrow footprint of the apartment, reinforcing the sense of openness. Pale yellow walls and ceilings painted were selected to reflect and amplify Madrid's soft, mellow sunlight around the apartment, tempering the long, narrow proportions of the plan and giving the interiors a warmth that feels distinctly tied to place.

On the project, co-founder Arabella Maza comments, "We wanted the apartment to feel slightly provocative at times; poetic, familiar and comfortable, but with moments that feel edgier and a little unexpected. We kept referring to it as a grandmother in latex. There's humour to the project, but also a real affection for old Madrid apartments and the lives already embedded within them."

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