Granite, Plaster, and Steel Anchor OROCO Studio's 40-Sqm Madrid Apartment

By Elena Vasquez

Madrid-based OROCO Studio has renovated a 40-square-meter apartment in the city's Palacio neighborhood using just three materials: granite, plaster, and steel. That's roughly the floor area of a two-car garage, and the project, called RS19, was designed as a first home for someone starting out at that scale.

The brief wasn't storage tricks or fold-out furniture. It was a question of perception. OROCO Studio reworked the existing layout to build a more fluid relationship between spaces, prioritizing continuity, functionality, and the perception of depth. The open-plan arrangement removes physical bottlenecks, so the apartment reads larger than its footprint.

The studio's stated approach is to achieve more with less. Instead of partitions and decorative gestures, the architecture and its material qualities define the interior's character.

Why only three materials?

Each of the palette's components does a distinct job:

• Granite introduces solidity, weight, durability, and texture to the interior envelope.
• Plaster forms a quiet, continuous, light-reflecting backdrop that holds the rooms together.
• Steel adds precision and contrast, appearing in refined fixtures that set up an understated dialogue with the raw stone.

OROCO Studio selected these materials for their simplicity, durability, and inherent character. Their contrasting textures bring depth to the interior while keeping one coherent visual language across the home.

How does the layout create depth?

The mechanism is material transition rather than walls. Shifts in surface — from stone to plaster to metal — articulate the passage between the kitchen, lounge, and sleeping areas without closing them off from each other. The design relies on careful proportions and the relationship between individual elements, so each material decision also carries spatial information.

The core idea, as the studio frames it, is that a small home does not need to feel constrained by its dimensions. RS19 rejects a predetermined decorative style in favor of what the designers call a direct and understated approach to domestic space.

What's the balance being struck?

Austerity is the obvious risk with a stripped-back palette of stone, mineral surfaces, and metal. The project counters it through warmth of texture and through practical generosity — the apartment feels more spacious without giving up everyday functionality.

Each material and architectural decision, the studio says, contributes to a balance between austerity and warmth. The result is a home where materiality, spatial clarity, and daily use combine into an intimate environment with a distinct identity.

RS19 joins a growing body of compact-apartment renovations in Madrid that treat material restraint as the primary spatial tool. For first-time buyers working with small footprints, it's a working argument that depth and generosity can come from what the surfaces are made of — not from how many rooms you can fit in.

Project information:

• Name: RS19
• Architect: Oroco (@oroco.studio)
• Location: Madrid, Spain