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Former Fur Shop Becomes a Compact, Light-Filled Home in Madrid

ByMyProperty Life

In Madrid on a residential block, BURR Studio has turned a disused fur shop into Benito – a modern, efficient home for two that balances openness with a clever spacial layout. The architects approached the small space as both a technical challenge and a design opportunity, crafting a layered interior that makes the most of its unusual split-level plan and spatial quirks inherited from the building’s commercial past.

Minimalist kitchen and dining area with white walls, a round table, two wooden chairs, stainless steel kitchen island, open shelving, and a staircase leading to a loft library.

The building’s distinctive “L”-shaped section defines its layout and atmosphere. The lower band, at street level, rises to an airy height of roughly 13 feet, creating a generous volume for the main living area. Above it, the mezzanine level sits about 5 feet 11 inches higher, forming a raised platform that allows cars to pass below on their way to a shared basement garage. This clever structural arrangement divides the home into two parallel zones: one public and open to the street, and another more private and retreat-like above.

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Minimalist kitchen with a stainless steel island, a white staircase leading to a loft with bookshelves, and an exposed concrete column. Light floods in from a door at the back.

At the intersection of these two areas stands the project’s defining feature – a clean white staircase that serves as both sculptural focal point and practical storage hub. Beneath its geometric form, BURR Studio hid a compact bathroom and a series of stepped compartments that follow the slope of the stairs. These concealed storage units house essentials like kitchen appliances, pantry items, and cleaning supplies, maintaining a seamless, uncluttered appearance. The compact bathroom tucked below feels almost like something aboard a train or airplane – efficient and just the right size.

Minimalist interior with white stairs, a concrete pillar, built-in wooden bookshelves filled with books, and a simple wooden bench.

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A modern, minimalist interior with white cabinetry, a stainless steel sink, and a staircase leading to a mezzanine with a large bookshelf.

A small, minimalist bathroom is integrated under a staircase, featuring a toilet, a compact sink, and a wall-mounted illustrated sign.

Minimalist kitchen with white stepped cabinetry, an induction cooktop on a stainless steel island, and neutral-toned walls.

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Minimalist kitchen with open white shelving displaying dishes, glasses, ceramics, and decorative objects; a sleek metal countertop is in the foreground.

Circulation flows through the home in a U-shaped loop, beginning at the entrance and wrapping through the living areas before returning to the front facade at the upper level. Large openings at both ends of the home promote natural cross ventilation and draw daylight inside. Each level also opens to outdoor spaces: the lower connects to a communal patio, while the upper level spills onto a more private terrace designed.

Minimalist kitchen with white walls, open shelving holding dishes and containers, a stainless steel sink, and white staircase railing in the foreground.

Minimalist living space with a white sofa, round white side table, light blue modern chair, beige walls, and a white railing overlooking a lower level with shelves.

Minimalist living space with a white sofa, round wall light, blue chair, and white metal railing overlooking a lower level. Neutral tones and simple, modern furniture are featured.

A restrained color palette enhances the project’s sense of calm. Smooth white surfaces bounce light, making the modest footprint feel more expansive. Against this backdrop, a central wooden structure introduces warmth and texture upstairs – an integrated system of wardrobes and bookshelves, along with a private full bathroom, separates the bedroom area from the living room.

Minimalist loft interior with neutral tones, featuring a white sofa, a light blue modern chair, framed artwork on the floor, and a railing overlooking the lower level.

Minimalist white interior with geometric steps, a framed art print, stacked magazines, a small sculpture, and a decorative lamp on display.

Minimalist interior with a light blue sculptural chair, framed artwork leaning against white steps, and decorative objects on the stairs in a neutral-toned room.

A modern living space with a white sofa, brown accent wall, round wall light, black floor lamp, and white railing overlooking a lower level.

To manage uneven ceiling heights and conceal shared building services, the architects introduced a half-barrel vault above the public-facing spaces. This soft, curving form lends a sense of visual unity to the compact dwelling.

A hallway with built-in wooden shelves holding books, a desk lamp, and a small sculpture; at the end are two monochrome artworks and a light blue chair.

A bedroom with a bed featuring pink pillows, a wooden headboard, a desk lamp, an alarm clock, a book, a small figurine, and a concrete pillar in a modern, minimalist interior.

A bed with pink sheets and pillows is placed against a wooden headboard, with two silver lamps, a clock, and small items on the headboard shelf.

A minimalist bedroom with built-in wooden wardrobes and a platform bed with a pink duvet and matching pillows, next to a reading lamp.

A minimalist bedroom with a pink bedspread, wooden wardrobes, built-in shelving, and an open doorway leading to a bathroom.

Minimalist living space with a white sofa, unique blue chair, small round table, wall clock, and adjoining terrace with orange chairs and a table. Large plant in the foreground.

A modern balcony with a sliding glass door opens to a minimalist living space with white walls, a sofa, a chair, potted plants, and an outdoor table with yellow chairs.

To learn more about Benito and BURR Studio, visit burr.studio.

Photography by Maru Serrano.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.

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  • Casa Haras

    1. How did you land the project and what was the brief? Initially the customers were looking for a house with volumetry that would hide the roofs, but the regulation of the condominium did not allow the use of flat slabs, nor a built-in roof. It would be our first house with apparent roofs. The required needs program and the size of the plot had the exact proportion for what we believed to be ideal for a single-storey house with plenty of open space for outside living, and so we did.
    Haras house came up as a pavilion installation consisting of 3 volumes: two parallels, with NE-SW orientation and a third perpendicular connecting with NW-SE orientation, as an “H”. The idea was based on the desire to have the central leisure area in the other spaces of the house, and with the proposed implantation, we were able to create two outdoor living areas: a main one with a deck and a swimming pool and a secondary area with a spa, a water mirror and a bonfire separated by the perpendicular volume and visually connected by the transparency of the sliding glass doors. 2. What was significant about the site? The land chosen within a stall in the interior of São Paulo, concentrated a number of positive aspects for the design of the project: views, large plot, solar orientation, generous setbacks, high soil permeability, no outside walls. 3. What was the overall design goal? The simple volume and purity of the gable roof in all 3 blocks of the house ended up contributing significantly to the harmony of the whole and to the desired country house aspect, which was further strengthened by the use of natural materials such as the stone coating on the gables of the walls and the use of the wood in the panels of doors and slatted of the facade. 4. What was the color pallet? The project explores in exterior areas the colors of natural materials such as the wood used in the slats of the whole facade of the house, the roof, also wood but with a shade of gray and stone walls. The contrast is quite striking with some internal areas, where the walls and white lining create a neutral and minimalist space. 5. What was particularly challenging? The main challenge of the project was to create a contemporary home using sloped roofs, in a minimalist architecture using natural materials. This challenge sought to coherently insert the project in the place that was built, a condominium in a stable – called “Haras” in Portuguese which gives the name of the house, with an air of farm in the interior of São Paulo- Brazil, a refuge for the tranquility at the weekends. 6. How does this project compare to other projects you have completed? This project differs from others for being a single-story house in a large terrain and with natural landscape around it. The fact that the house is single-story provided a widespread deployment in the land that generated direct relations of all the environments with the outdoor areas landscaped, which increased the sensation of the built space and strengthened the use of the external areas as a continuity of the built environment. 7. Could you please go into detail about a few pieces of furniture,including why these were selected? The pieces of furniture were selected especially for each room, proposing an integrating of the spaces. The sofa in the living room, for example, integrate both spaces, the fireplace and the outside gardens. The mix of materials is certainly a charm in this project. In the dinning room, the wood dinning table signed by the Brazilian designer Theo Egami contrasts with the metal chairs feet by Fernando Jaeger. 8. Could you please go into detail about a few fixtures, including whythese were selected? The lighting is mostly made by points of indirect light, creating a more intimate look in the house. In the social central pavilion, spots were used facing the wood lining, creating a light effect on the wood. Some interesting pieces have been used in specific spaces, such as in the kitchen, hanging with the exposed wiring that run through the wall and ceiling until they reach the bench and lavatory point, where the architects used hydraulic copper pieces to create a luminaire exclusively to the project. 9. What did you intend to impart with the rooms and how are theydifferent from each other? The flat distribution of the house program gives all rooms and environments a sense of continuity beyond the limit built, since all have direct visual relation through glazed sliding doors with more than 1150 m² of free ground and high permeability index of the ground, have secured a generous area for landscaping that embraces the house by the front, side and back indents, and advance through the central core. The differences between the rooms are related to the user, 1 double suite fully integrated with the bathroom, which has a glazed shower facing the bedroom. There are two other similar suites, also with double beds, but to receive guests in the house and finally the children’s room, a suite that has two large beds that can be shared.