Casa Binôme / Gon Architects

Architects: gon architects
Area: 80 m²
Year: 2025
Photography: Imagen Subliminal (Rocío R. Rivas + Miguel de Guzmán)
Lead Architects: Gonzalo Pardo
Architects Team: Carol Linares, María Cecilia Cordero, Alvine Ikauniece, Maria Konstantinidou, Nicolas Howden, Sara Mordt, Alexandra Marouda
Design Team: Carol Linares, María Cecilia Cordero, Alvine Ikauniece, Maria Konstantinidou, Nicolas Howden, Sara Mordt, Alexandra Marouda
Contractor: REDO Construcción
Materials: Espacio Betty, Tiempos Modernos
City: Madrid
Country: Spain

Casa Binôme reconfigures an 80 square meter duplex in Madrid’s Conde Duque neighborhood by transforming its narrow attic condition through a complete reconsideration of circulation and spatial clarity. The project’s central gesture is the creation of a new staircase that blends furniture, storage, and structure into a single inhabitable element, allowing the home’s two floors to communicate more fluidly. A full interior gutting provided a blank slate from which natural light, program distribution, and material continuity were recalibrated. Large-format ceramics inspired by traditional French tomettes establish visual cohesion throughout, while mirrored volumes intensify depth and brightness. With a layout that now separates social and private uses yet keeps both in direct connection with the exterior, the dwelling becomes more adaptable to the client’s daily rhythms. The result is a domestic landscape shaped by a staircase that operates as connector and catalyst for spatial transformation.

As the writer Spanbauer says, we are the stories we tell ourselves. We are drawn to projects that take risks—but this is only possible when there’s a strong narrative behind them. Every project is a story we first tell ourselves, and then to others. And it had better be a good one, because we’ll be living with it for a long time until it becomes real.
Interview with Gonzalo Pardo of gon architects

The project begins by challenging conventional assumptions about how circulation should occupy domestic space, particularly within compact urban interiors. Rather than accepting the existing welded steel stair as an immutable constraint, the architects questioned its dominance and sought to redistribute the home’s proportions. This conceptual shift treated the staircase not as a neutral connector but as a potential architectural protagonist capable of structuring everyday experience. The original configuration, darkened by the stair’s weight and location, limited the interior’s capacity to serve both social and introspective needs.

The decision to relocate the staircase triggered a significant reorganization. Opening a new void in the upper slab required removing partitions and exposing the full height of the duplex, which in turn revealed the structural grid and the directional character of incoming light. With this new understanding of the building’s anatomy, the architects developed a stair that is articulated as a series of 7-centimeter-thick steel shelves transitioning into cantilevered treads supported by concealed reinforcement. The result is a hybrid form that alternates between solidity and lightness, asserting itself as a functional object while remaining visually understated.

Its placement along the east wall generated a more efficient plan in which circulation supports rather than interrupts domestic activities. On the lower floor, the communal spaces revolve around a living area that opens to a south-facing terrace, establishing a direct relationship between interior and exterior. Above, the private rooms and a flexible central area benefit from improved light distribution and ventilation. This organization enables the home to adapt to varied uses, from hosting gatherings to supporting quiet reflective routines.

Material expression plays a decisive role in reinforcing these spatial relationships. The large-format ceramic flooring, inspired by the client’s French background, introduces a warm red tone that extends across both floors and onto the terrace, softening transitions and visually merging interior and exterior planes. Subtle chromatic shifts in blue and gray ceramics mark more intimate spaces, supporting a calm and differentiated atmosphere without disrupting the overall cohesion. These materials work in tandem with the stair’s steel surfaces, creating a tactile gradient that moves between groundedness and lightness.

Completing the intervention, mirrored volumes surrounding the bathroom and master bedroom introduce a sense of optical expansion. These reflective surfaces intensify light and create shifting perceptions of scale that evolve throughout the day. They also underscore the project’s interest in dissolving boundaries, allowing the compact dwelling to feel more open than its dimensions might suggest. Through this layered approach, Casa Binôme presents an interior where circulation, materiality, and light are interwoven, resulting in a home that affords the client a renewed sense of place while preserving the neighborhood roots he values.