![Kresta Garden House creates extra living room with mobile sleep space](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2024/02/kresta-garden-house_dezeen_2364_hero_0-852x479.jpg)
Lucas y Hernández Gil adds multi-use greenhouse to Madrid bungalow
A renovated 1970s bungalow with "kitsch character" and a greenhouse that doubles as a living room feature in Casamontesa – a weekend home designed by Spanish studio Lucas y Hernández Gil.
The project began when a couple asked the studio to overhaul a single-storey house that was once part of a hotel complex on the outskirts of Madrid.
![Kresta Garden House doubles as home office](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2024/02/kresta-garden-house_dezeen_2364_sq_1-852x852.jpg)
The brief later expanded to include a multifunctional greenhouse that can be used as a workspace, a guest bedroom, a gym or simply as a garden room.
Lucas y Hernández Gil, led by architects Cristina Domínguez Lucas and Fernando Hernández-Gil Ruano, developed a distinct character for each building.
![Casamontesa renovation of 1970s bungalow](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2024/02/casamontesa_dezeen_2364_col_18-852x762.jpg)
Casamontesa's renovated bungalow has a warm, playful style that draws on the 1970s aesthetic while the garden pavilion has a more utilitarian feel.
"The owners, a young urban couple who love design and live and work in the centre of Madrid, were looking for a functional and compact getaway within a fantastic garden," Lucas told Dezeen.
"They wanted a very comfortable and flexible home that would be useful for both working and getting together with friends."
![Casamontesa house kitchen island](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2024/02/casamontesa_dezeen_2364_col_1-852x955.jpg)
The bungalow renovation involved simplifying the interior layout to create a combined kitchen, dining room and living room, with a bedroom and bathroom off to one side.
"The house, in addition to being small, was very compartmentalised," explained Lucas.
![Casamontesa house kitchen island](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2024/02/casamontesa_dezeen_2364_col_5-852x942.jpg)
To unify the newly open-plan living space, the designers installed an island that serves as a worktop, dining table and social gathering place.
This island features a countertop made from Portuguese pink marble while its sides are covered in the same handmade burgundy tiles that line an adjacent window recess.
![Casamontesa house with arched fireplace](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2024/02/casamontesa_dezeen_2364_col_11-852x859.jpg)
"The rest of the surfaces – Campaspero stone floors and waxed tinted plaster walls – establish a dialogue by contrast with the colourful and shiny surface of the tiles," added Lucas.
Key details in the living room include an arched fireplace and a tadelakt plaster coffee table, while the bedroom features semi-circular marble nightstands.
For Casamontesa's garden room, the design team customised a prefabricated greenhouse.
A pergola extends the building volume outwards in a bid to blur the boundary between inside and out, and is topped with wooden blinds to provide shade.
![Kresta Garden House greenhouse with pergola](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2024/02/kresta-garden-house_dezeen_2364_col_2-852x1095.jpg)
A wooden box on wheels provides an additional bedroom, described as a "small Shigeru Ban-style mobile room".
Other additions include thermal curtains and an automatic shading and ventilation system, which allow for versatile use of the space throughout the year.
![Kresta Garden House creates extra living room with mobile sleep space](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2024/02/kresta-garden-house_dezeen_2364_col_11-852x1176.jpg)
"By complementing the programme of the original bungalow, a more complete and flexible program is achieved, overcoming the limitations of a weekend house," added Lucas.
Other recent projects by Lucas y Hernández Gil include a bar featuring extreme colour blocking and an apartment with a hidden closet.
The photography is by José Hevia.