A Madrid Home Mimics the Mountains With a Striking Sawtooth Roof

This Madrid home's intriguing roofline creates tall ceilings while sticking to strict building restrictions.

Text by

London–based Steyn Studio designed a three-bedroom home on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain, that stands out from its neighbors with a striking sawtooth roof. The project is nicknamed the Sierra House for both its peaked profile and its location in one of Madrid’s northwestern neighborhoods between Mirasierra and Montecarmelo.

Transparent sections of the home's facade allow daylight to filter inside.

The front facade of the Sierra House mixes concrete, stone, expanded metal mesh, and wood battens.

The design team sought to accommodate the spatial requirements of the client while abiding by local building height restrictions. In order to achieve both, Steyn Studio created two roof peaks that provide headroom on the upper floors—instead of a tall, central gable that wouldn’t comply with the height regulations.

The home's distinct silhouette meets local building regulations while delivering on the client's desire for high ceilings in the upstairs bedroom.

Mechanical equipment and vents are hidden in between the two peaks of the irregular sawtooth roof.

In addition to height regulations, the local planning commission restricts buildable square footage per lot, ultimately resulting in many homes with very similar appearances. The asymmetrical sawtooth roofline makes the 2,885-square-foot home stand out from its neighbors, and it also provides a space to hide mechanical equipment and solar panels so that they aren't as visible from the street.

The rear of the house continues the same mix of materials as the front facade and includes a long, narrow pool.

Steps lead down from the kitchen to the living room and dining area. Open shelving keeps the spaces connected but distinct.

The home’s concrete and stone exterior references its location at the edge of the city, and the transition to the rocky mountains beyond. The facade facing the main street combines vertical wood battens, metal mesh, and two different types of stone for a textured palette in neutral tones.

The kitchen opens directly into the living room. The staircase leading to the bedrooms on the second floor continues the same material palette.

The home’s furniture and window treatments complement the neutral tones of the exterior and interior materials. Textured walls of board-formed concrete provide visual interest in the living room.

The site measures only about 22 feet wide, so the architects needed to maximize every square foot of space. Steyn Studio did this through tall ceilings, level changes, and screened spaces that play with the scale and sight lines of rooms.

Throughout the home, spaces are defined by changes in ceiling height or floor level—like the battens above the dining table, and the steps down from the hallway to the living and dining area.

Shop the Look

Tom Dixon Beat Stout Pendant

YLighting

The Beat Stout LED Pendant Light by Tom Dixon has a sleek, artisan design inspired by the traditional cooking pots and water vessels of India.

Shop

HAY Don’t Leave Me Side Table

Design Within Reach

Copenhagen-based industrial designer Thomas Bentzen believes that everything he creates should engage and create curiosity, be functional and meet human needs while in use. In other words, this is a designer who thinks beyond the obvious.

Shop

White countertops and simple wood cabinets with hidden hardware give the kitchen a clean and minimalist aesthetic.

The textures and tones of the exterior materials carry through to the interior. The walls are board-formed concrete, and the floors are covered with smooth stone tiles. On the upper level, the bedrooms are bright and light, with high-pitched ceilings clad in wood boards similar in tone to the wood flooring.