CASA A12 Duplex House in Madrid by Lucas y Hernández-Gil

Nothing is predictable inside the Casa A12 Duplex House in Madrid. Architects Lucas y Hernández-Gil were challenged by a deep and dark space with very little access to natural light. They based their renovation around combatting this challenge. Employing different mechanisms, including opening up street-facing facades, inserting two courtyards and introducing metallic materials, the architects managed to brighten every room.

“The brightness entering from the street and the two courtyards that structure the project has been multiplied by using metallized materials in ceilings and vertical surfaces,” explained Lucas y Hernández-Gil.

Home to a young couple and their dog, the upper and lower levels of the duplex encompass completely different atmospheres defined by contrasting geometry, colour, and light, the interplay of which shapes the interior. An entire third of the ground floor contains a minimal vestibule flooded with natural light courtesy of two large street-facing windows. Among bare furnishings, a cobalt blue cylindrical pod reaches from floor to ceiling. It encloses a small bathroom, clad in contrasting coral tiles.

Beyond this space, a stark white kitchen gains a pop of colour via a bright yellow table with dark blue dining chairs. Most interior surfaces are painted white, making the space feel as bright and airy as possible. Metallic surfaces enhance a reflective, futuristic quality throughout, with sheets of corrugated metal used as room dividers, and the bedroom featuring dramatic silver curtains.

Deep blue and coral are a key colour combination throughout the duplex, demonstrated again on the staircase connecting each level. The walls on the ground floor around the stairs are blue, while the balustrade, steps, and upper walls are painted coral. The architects were inspired by the shades in 20th-century abstract expressionist artist Mark Rothko’s ‘Number 14’ painting, featuring blue and orange blocks against a black background.

Lucas y Hernández-Gil bring the outside in with an internal basement courtyard, lined in surreal-looking orange carpet into which spindly trees are embedded. A metal grill acts as a ceiling, preventing the space from being completely open-air while still allowing ample sunlight to filter through from the street-level vestibule above.

See more projects by Lucas y Hernández-Gil on Yellowtrace here.