Magic Box Apartment With A Gold Wardrobe In Its Center

The Magic Box Apartment by Raúl Sánchez Architects is set within a two-storey home and is called so after A shiny brass wardrobe in its center.

One large room has been turned into bedrooms for the daughters. In place of a traditional partition wall, a jewelry box-style wardrobe divides the two rooms. It rises up just over two meters and is clad entirely in panels of shiny golden brass. The girls can slip between each other’s rooms using the secret passageway in the middle of the wardrobe, a feature which the practice included to increase the spatial experience and interior complexity.

The practice has utilized a variety of materials and colors throughout the rest of the house to define different spaces. For example, white micro cement has been applied to the floors of service areas like the bathrooms and corridors, contrasting the oakwood floorboards that appear elsewhere. Stainless steel has then been used for the inner lining of all the doorways. It marks the passage of spaces that, despite being open to each other, change their function. The corner of the sitting room has also been partially painted vermillion red, and wide stripes of peachy orange have been created onto the paneled doors of the girls’ bedrooms. One wall of the kitchen, which features a slate-grey breakfast island and cabinetry, has additionally been painted sky blue. These new decor details sit alongside original details that have been preserved by the practice, like the barrel-vaulted ceilings. All of the existing windows were also restored, bar one in the apartment’s kitchen which was expanded to offer better views of the luscious garden outdoors.