Casa NEES is a carefully pared-back dwelling set within the dense historic fabric of central Madrid. Conceived as an interior retreat, the project reframes domestic life through subtraction, exposing the existing wooden structure and creating a continuous, light-filled environment organized around calm, proportion, and spatial clarity.
Casa NEES Technical Information
- ArchitectsIglesias Hamelin Arquitectos
- LocationMadrid, Spain
- Completion Year 2026
- PhotographsCourtesy of Iglesias Hamelin Arquitectos
The house is conceived as a place of retreat, where architecture is reduced to the essential and space is organized through silence, light, and structure.
– Iglesias Hamelin Architects
Urban Context and the Notion of Refuge
Casa NEES occupies a historically layered enclave in the center of Madrid, where palaces, churches, and former aristocratic residences lend the street a restrained and introspective character. Despite its central location, the area maintains a measured urban rhythm. This relative quietude becomes the conceptual foundation of the project, positioning the dwelling as a refuge embedded within the city rather than a participant in its spectacle.
The architects interpret the domestic interior through the lens of monastic withdrawal. Rather than engaging with the street outwardly through formal gestures, the project focuses on cultivating a protected interior world. The house operates as a space of retreat, organizing daily life around calm and concentration. This attitude informs both the spatial organization and the material language, which consistently favor introspection over display.
Subtraction as Spatial Strategy
The intervention is structured around an act of subtraction. Existing partitions and secondary elements are removed to clarify the underlying spatial order. Through this process, the original wooden structural framework is revealed and reinstated as the primary architectural protagonist. Beams and posts establish a legible rhythm across the plan, providing proportion and continuity without resorting to additional ornament or articulation.
By dismantling hierarchical boundaries between rooms, the architects transform the apartment into a continuous interior landscape. Spaces flow into one another without abrupt transitions, reducing the conventional segmentation of domestic programs. The emphasis shifts from clearly defined rooms to a unified field structured by the cadence of the exposed timber. The resulting environment reads as open yet measured, guided by structure rather than partitions.
Light, Continuity, and Interior Organization
Natural light entering from the main façade becomes a central organizing element. With visual obstructions minimized, daylight extends deep into the plan, articulating surfaces and amplifying the perception of depth. The absence of interior barriers allows light to operate as both a spatial connector and a subtle demarcator of zones within the open configuration.
Circulation unfolds within this unified volume, without corridors imposing directional constraints. Inhabitation is flexible and adaptive, supported by the continuity of floor and ceiling planes. The interplay between structural rhythm and diffuse illumination creates a calm spatial atmosphere, where movement and occupation occur within a coherent, undivided environment.
Material Restraint and Temporal Atmosphere
The material palette is deliberately limited. Light tones and continuous, clean surfaces provide a neutral background against which structure and proportion become perceptible. The restrained use of materials reduces visual noise, enabling the tactile presence of wood and the modulation of natural light to define the space’s character.
Decorative gestures are consciously avoided. Instead, the dwelling relies on subtle variations in texture and the inherent qualities of its materials to produce depth. This disciplined approach situates the project outside stylistic tendencies, seeking temporal continuity aligned with the place’s memory. The interior engages its historic context not through imitation, but through measured intervention and respect for the existing fabric.
About Iglesias Hamelin Arquitectos
Iglesias-Hamelin Arquitectos is a Franco-Spanish architecture studio founded in Madrid in 2007 by Iñaki Iglesias and Maud Hamelin. Working across Spain and France for both public and private clients, the practice develops projects at multiple scales, from furniture and interior architecture to full building construction and urban development. The studio is guided by rigor, precision, and a deep commitment to delivering architecture that responds thoughtfully to contemporary society and its evolving needs. Viewing constraints as opportunities for innovation, Iglesias-Hamelin explores technical, spatial, and functional solutions to create distinctive, client-focused designs. Their comprehensive services span all project phases, including feasibility studies, licensing, executive design, construction management, legal reports, and bespoke interior and furniture design, ensuring a cohesive and carefully guided process from concept to completion.
