A main studio project that began without a brief - working in teams of four to identify an architectural problem related with the theme of density, a site in Madrid’s premium Salamanca district was identified as an opportunity to introduce low-cost modular housing into an existing site with listed building protection across the main facade.

The resulting proposal was a result of achieving harmony between the existing and the new - through materiality, modularity and form. The existing masonry facade and proportion was continued through perforated brick panels, creating a double skin facade that buffered staggering modules across open apartment gardens. The existing slab was retained, continued but interrupted to create voids across the gardens and corridors to promote social activity.

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A new form was created above the existing level with a curved, offset disc shape lifted above the roof to create an open space for a communal garden & bar. This new mass created a chance to morph a more natural form into a very architecturally traditional neighbourhood, while respecting the surroundings by continuing the proportionality and perforated brick panels up to the new mass alongside contemporary drip guards, polycarbonate glazing and staggered soffit profiling.