Ábaton Reworks a 600 m² Madrid House Around an Inner Courtyard and a Grove of Old Oaks

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This article covers topics related to Interior Design, Landscape Design, Renovation, Living Building. On a 2,500 m² plot in Madrid, Ábaton's integral renovation opens a white family house to its planted courtyard, pool and mature oak trees.

On a 2,500 m² plot in Madrid, Ábaton's integral renovation opens a white family house to its planted courtyard, pool and mature oak trees.

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Renovation rarely gets the credit that new construction does, yet some of the most intelligent residential work in Spain right now involves taking an existing house and deciding what it should become. Ábaton, the Madrid studio known for its integral reforms, completed Full Renovation LVL in 2024: a 600 m² house on a 2,500 m² plot that the architects judged had excellent qualities for rehabilitation. Their stated aim was to turn it into a modern home and add new spaces of architectural quality that make use of the location and the richness of the plot.

What interests us is how much of the project comes from the landscape rather than the building. With a built footprint covering only about a quarter of the site, the house has room to breathe, and the photographs return again and again to the same few elements: old oaks, a planted inner courtyard, a pool terrace and a lawn. The renovation seems less about spectacle and more about orientation. Almost every room has been arranged to look at something green.

A House That Defers to Its Trees

White two-storey rear facade with open living rooms and glass balcony, seen across a lawn and travertine pool terrace with two lounge chairs

Rendered white wall with corner glazing and a low-lit lounge, partly hidden by a large oak branching over a wood-chip garden

Timber-clad entrance porch with a built-in bench, framed by an oak trunk and a planted bed of ferns and grasses

Two orange rocking loungers on a paved pad in a gravel terrace beneath a large oak tree in bright sun

Paved garden patio with yellow chairs and table beside a white wall, framed by an old oak and tall green leaves

Close view of a grey-topped table with yellow chairs and two lanterns, with a stacked log pile behind in dappled shade

Seen from the garden, the rear facade is plain: white render, two storeys, large openings and a glass balustrade. That plainness is the point. The house works as a backdrop for the oaks, which are allowed to branch across corners and partly hide the corner glazing rather than being trimmed back to show off the architecture.

The timber-clad entrance porch, with its built-in bench set beside an oak trunk and a bed of ferns and grasses, is the warmest material moment on the exterior. It signals that wood will carry through the interior. Further out, the garden breaks into small, occupiable pads: orange rocking loungers on gravel, a yellow table under the canopy, a log pile in dappled shade. On a plot this size, you need these outdoor rooms or the land becomes something you only look at.

Living Around the Courtyard

Living room with cream sofa and striped cushions opening through a large frame to a covered terrace and oak trees

Covered terrace sofa seen through a courtyard of Japanese maples and mulch, with a green lawn and pool beyond

Two facing sofas and leather armchairs on a woven rug, with a sliding glass wall opening to a leafy courtyard

Living room with cream sofas, a walnut coffee table and leather armchairs facing a carved wooden sideboard, daylight entering from a side courtyard

Corner sofa and tan leather chairs in an open living area with a white bookshelf and a small tree in the courtyard beyond

Long view across the living space toward a courtyard tree, with a carved wooden sideboard and brass floor lamp in the foreground

The ground floor plan shows the main spaces wrapped around a planted inner courtyard, and the interiors confirm how decisive that move is. Living areas open through sliding glass walls onto Japanese maples and mulch, while a covered terrace extends the sofa zone toward the lawn and pool. Light reaches the room from two directions, from the courtyard on one side and from the garden on the other, so the depth of a large house never turns gloomy.

The furnishing palette is restrained: cream sofas, tan leather armchairs, a walnut coffee table and a carved wooden sideboard. A long view across the living space ends at the courtyard tree, which effectively acts as the focal artwork. It is a sensible strategy for a family home, because the architecture sets the frame and the residents can change the objects without breaking the composition.

Arrival, Stair and the Rooms In Between

Entry hall with a tall pivot door, large framed artwork and a maroon lacquered console on a limestone floor

Black folded-steel staircase with oak treads rising from a stepped oak platform against white walls

Sitting area with a pink armchair and round table opening to a billiard room, a potted maple glowing in a wall niche

Low linear fireplace and stone ledge beneath a framed red-toned photograph, flanked by leather and timber armchairs in soft daylight

Glass-enclosed wine cellar with dark floating shelves lit by strip lights, beside a round timber pedestal table

The entry hall is the most formal space in the house: a tall pivot door, a limestone floor, a maroon lacquered console and a large framed artwork. From there, a black folded-steel staircase with oak treads rises from a stepped oak platform. It is the one element that reads as an obvious contemporary insertion, and its thin, dark profile against white walls keeps it from dominating the hall.

Smaller rooms give the plan texture. A sitting area with a pink armchair leads to a billiard room, with a potted maple lit inside a wall niche, so even an interior corner gets its piece of green. A low linear fireplace under a stone ledge and a glass-enclosed wine cellar with floating dark shelves add the kind of specific program that separates a renovation built around a family from a generic upgrade.

Cooking and Eating Toward the Garden

Kitchen and dining space with a white table, olive-toned chairs and tall cabinet wall, opening to a leafy garden

Oak dining table with curved chairs beside a slatted sideboard and wooden sculpture, a planted courtyard bed visible through the glass

Dining table and oak chairs beside an open glass corner framing a planted courtyard bed with maples and grasses

Kitchen counter with twin sinks beneath a wide window framing a large oak tree and lawn in soft daylight

The kitchen and dining zones follow the same logic as the living room. An oak dining table with curved chairs sits beside an open glass corner, and when that corner slides away, the table is effectively in the courtyard, next to beds of maples and grasses. The kitchen keeps its storage in a tall cabinet wall, leaving the outward face free for glass.

The detail we like most is modest: twin sinks under a wide window that frames a large oak and the lawn. Whoever does the washing up gets the best view in the room. Small decisions like this reveal whether a team has really thought about daily use.

Bedrooms That Borrow the Canopy

Bedroom with sliding glass wall opening to a timber deck, pool and a lounge chair, with a white curtain drawn aside

Bedroom opening through a sliding glass wall and white curtain onto a timber deck with a lounger in afternoon light

Bed facing a square black-framed window with a roller blind, leafy tree canopy outside and an open bathroom to the left

Bedroom with a low upholstered bed and woven jute rug, opening through a wall recess to a bathroom with hanging towels

Bedroom corner with a curved white wall shelf holding a flower vase, and a window framing green foliage

Bedroom with a low timber bed, pale blue rug and woven lounge chair beside a white partition wall in soft daylight

Child's bedroom under a sloped ceiling with a window seat, built-in desk, red chair and balcony door opening to treetops

Bathroom with a concrete wall-hung basin, striped linen towels and a glass shower screen over pale limestone floor tiles

Stone basin with a curved tap set in a deep window recess facing dense green trees

Upstairs and at garden level, the bedrooms split into two characters. Some open fully through sliding glass and white curtains onto a timber deck beside the pool, which makes them feel almost like pavilions. Others are more enclosed, using a square black-framed window or a deep recess to frame the tree canopy like a picture. Low beds, jute and pale rugs and a curved white wall shelf keep the rooms calm without making them sterile.

The child's bedroom, set under a sloped ceiling with a window seat, a built-in desk and a balcony door to the treetops, shows the renovation working with the existing roof form rather than fighting it. The bathrooms continue the material discipline: a concrete wall-hung basin, pale limestone floors and a stone basin set into a deep window recess facing dense trees. Washing becomes another way of looking at the garden.

Plans and Drawings

Ground floor plan drawing showing living room, dining table, kitchen island and staircase arranged around a planted inner courtyard, with stepping stones and tr

Upper floor plan drawing showing bedrooms, bathrooms and a gravel roof terrace with paving, surrounded by scattered trees and stepping stone paths

The ground floor plan explains the whole project: living room, dining table, kitchen island and staircase gather around the planted inner courtyard, with stepping stones leading out into the trees. The upper floor holds bedrooms and bathrooms alongside a gravel roof terrace with paving. Read together, the drawings show a house organized as a ring of rooms around a void, with the plot's scattered trees setting the outer edge.

Why This Project Matters

Full Renovation LVL makes a quiet case for keeping houses rather than replacing them. Ábaton started from a building it considered worth rehabilitating and redirected it toward its strongest asset, the site. The courtyard, the sliding glass walls and the framed windows all serve the same goal: putting the residents in constant contact with mature trees that no new build could replicate overnight.

For architects working on suburban plots, the lesson is about restraint. The white render, oak and limestone are familiar, and the project doesn't try to be a manifesto. Its quality lies in how consistently each room, from the kitchen sink to the child's window seat, is positioned against the landscape. That consistency is harder to achieve than a dramatic gesture, and it is what makes a renovated house feel like it was always meant to sit among those oaks.

Full Renovation LVL by Ábaton. Location: Madrid, Spain. Area: 600 m². Year: 2024. Photography: Belén Imaz.

About the Studio

Ábaton

Official website of Ábaton, one of the studios behind this project.

abaton.es

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