Trap doors and secret passages are usually associated with moldy, ancient castles or creaky old money manor houses, but Spanish architecture firm Elii has managed to pack a tiny, 620 square-foot attic loft in Madrid with a bevy of space-saving contraptions while retaining a whimsical, modern feel.
Client Dido Fogué approached Elii because of its history of eclectic projects—and because her brother was one of the firm's partners. In partnership with Fogué, Elii principles Eva Gil Lopesino, Uriel Fogué Herreros, and Carlos Palacios channeled their inner Zooey Deschanel and developed a loft that's equal parts crash pad and performance space.
"Every house, in a way is a theater, where you perform your everyday life," says Herreros. "In this case, the apartment was designed for somebody who was starting a new life and in this domestic stage, she will be able to test and try this new leaf."
>'The hidden compartments were the starting point,' says Lopesino.
Working with the thesis that life is a performance and the apartment is the stage, the designers created an open floor plan built for quick scene changes. By repositioning a series of lightweight partitions that float on guide rails, Fogué can quickly create an extra bedroom for a guest, separate the kitchen and dining room for a large group dinner, or put all of them away to host a house party. Transparent panels in the partitions allow natural light to filter through the entire house regardless of how it's configured.
"She describes herself as a heavy metal fan that is very fond of Hello Kitty," says Palacios. "We tried to respect her taste and translate it into the aesthetic of the place."
Making the most of a constrained floor plan required a ruthless approach to space maximization, as well as a dose of quirky creativity. Traditional techniques, like making a pantry in the space under the stairs were a given, but the designers also crafted a series of cute secret compartments, utilizing the wasted space between the floor joists to extend storage space and expand functionality. "The hidden compartments were the starting point of the project," says Lopesino. "We located them in between the wooden beams in order to make the most of the spare space."
A clandestine dressing table was a hard requirement from the client, but every pocket of empty space was evaluated as an opportunity to add a charming capability. By cranking a handle on the wall, a bungee cord actuated pulley drops ceiling tiles that become a picnic table/bench in the kitchen. Flipping another tile reveals handy storage cabinets. Extra counter space can be pulled out of a pocket in the kitchen wall and a disco ball and hammock hide behind plywood panels in the living area.
The delightful doohickies are idiosyncratic and in some cases, brilliant. Smart shelves that swing down from the ceiling, creating unobtrusive spots to store rarely used items, are a genius idea that should be productized and sold as construction modules. Others, like a surreptitious swing, seem like a twee touch in a manic pixie dream house, but the client embraced both kinds of ideas enthusiastically.
Crafty concepts were bountiful, but finances were tight and led the designers to choose unconventional materials for much of the project. For instance, expensive hardwood flooring was replaced with oriented strand board plywood. "We have used OSB in other works and we loved the result. It is warm and, at the same time, industrial," says Lopesino. "It's finished with some wax to protect it and to be able to walk barefoot over it." All told, the apartment was renovated from the walls in, and a complex mansard roof was repaired, all for a budget of just $75,000.
