South of the city centre, the Madrid district of Carabanchel is among the culturally diverse and eclectic pockets of Spain. Home to large communities of North African, Eastern European and South American immigrants, the historically working-class neighbourhood is home to a wealth of housing types and a distinctly varied urban fabric. It’s not uncommon, for example, to find light industrial uses at the base of an apartment building, with mechanics, workshops and even small factories fronting the public realm. And like any neighbourhood, it’s changing all the time.
After a major local highway was transformed into a green corridor, the adjacent industries gradually relocated, leaving behind a more attractive and welcoming residential neighbourhood — as well as a glut of vacant spaces. One such example was the former plumbing supply and hardware warehouse at the foot of a large residential building. Occupying a prominent corner lot, the vacant industrial lot left behind an urban husk. What next? While such spaces are more commonly transformed into retail or offices, local designers OOIIO have carved out a delightfully unconventional nine-unit residential complex dubbed “Warehouse Apartments”.
Reimagined as a compact two-storey volume, the 295-square-metre intervention nests a new apartment block within a much larger residential building. At street level, a new façade announces the transformation, replacing the former industrial frontage with an interplay of two brick textures — arranged in contrasting orientation — which are interspersed with bright pops of yellow that frame the windows and doors.
Inside, four small apartments — measuring approximately 40 square metres each — fill out the ground floor, with each suite accessed via a door to the street. Upstairs, another five homes are accessed via a compact central stair. Although all nine apartments are similar in size, the constrained site resulted in a variety of layouts, rang from boxy corner suites to long, linear units and irregularly shaped apartments.
Throughout the interiors, splashes of solid colour animate the simple spaces, with the warehouses former pipes painted bright yellow — retaining a hint of the site’s industrial past. In the basement, meanwhile, each of the suites is outfitted with a dedicated storage locker. Here, bold use of colour introduces an energetic ambiance to what would otherwise remain a dark and unwelcoming space.
For OOIIO, the project exemplifies a playful approach to an economy of means. Established by Foster+Partners and OMA alumnus Joaquín Millán Villamuelas in 2010, the local design studio has carved out a niche in compact residential interiors. Warehouse Apartments follows a similarly thoughtful residential fit out recently completed in the same neighbourhood, while addressing a broader urban context with spatial and economic rigour, deft architectural problem-solving and an inspired dose of whimsy.
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