ZOOCO Estudio restores a Madrid home to its rural essence

In a quiet residential enclave of early 20th-century Madrid, ZOOCO Estudio has brought new life to a historic home while honoring its architectural origins. The property, part of a housing colony developed under the 1921 “Law of Cheap Houses,” had suffered nearly a century of successive alterations, obscuring the clarity and rural scale of its original design.

Faced with this architectural palimpsest, the studio approached the project as an exercise in subtraction. Layers of modifications were stripped away, including multiple ceilings, to reveal the hidden Catalan vaults—an uncommon feature in Madrid, more typical of other Spanish regions. Carefully restored, these vaults now define the interior character of the house, reestablishing its historical and material presence.

The intervention emphasizes authenticity through a restrained palette: exposed original brick, oak wood across flooring, furnishings and carpentry, and white-painted walls that serve as a neutral canvas. The result is a balanced dialogue between past and present, where material simplicity amplifies the building’s inherent qualities and reinstates its architectural integrity.