This Unconventional Madrid Penthouse Has a Bathtub in the Living Room

An architect's penthouse apartment has a living room bathtub surrounded by windows and skylights.

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Spanish architect Gonzalo Pardo, principal of Madrid–based Gon Architects, has transformed the attic of a four-story building in Madrid’s Conde Duque district into G House—a vibrant and enchanting bachelor pad. Pardo demolished all the apartment's partition walls and created social spaces by using furniture to define the interior layout.

G House is a penthouse apartment on the top floor of a four-story building in Madrid.

The penthouse has two adjoining, south-facing terraces.

The apartment enjoys plenty of natural light thanks to numerous outdoor spaces—including a 33-foot-long balcony garden to the north, and two terraces to the south that are accessible via the bedroom and the dining area.

In the summer, Pardo can throw small parties on the terrace.

A staircase leads up along a bright blue wall to the 1,313-square-foot abode. A kitchen, dining, and living area lies to the right of the entrance stairs, while a bedroom and study are on the left.

The green outdoor areas dissolve the boundaries between public and private, interior and exterior.

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A bright blue stairwell leads up to the living areas.

In the middle of the apartment is a pine-clad volume that hides storage, and a white Corian-covered bathroom, which leads to an all-black dressing room.

A pine volume contains storage, a bathroom, and a dressing room.

The pine volume creates a corridor that leads from the living area to the bedroom.

"The storage system, a wooden chest-cabinet that occupies the center of the house, is the link between both worlds. It is an element of play: It hides a secret access to the bathroom between its doors, setting the scene of a place for surprise and mystery in the house," says Pardo.

A sunken bathtub is positioned right next to a giant window, just off the living lounge.

The north facade is bordered by a longitudinal planter that’s more than 32 feet long.

Pardo enjoys contemplative moments relaxing in the tub with the windows open.

On the north side of the apartment is a built-in, sunken, white mosaic bathtub awash in light streaming in from overhead skylights and a row of large windows. Plants on the narrow balcony outside the windows provide privacy.

The bathroom can be accessed through an entryway at the back of the bathtub.

The bathroom and dressing area is accessed through a threshold beyond the bathtub.

In the living area, Pardo can sit by the fire with friends in the winter.

"While the actions of cooking, eating, sleeping, relating, working, or resting take place in a free environment defined by the shape and position of objects in the room, cleaning and body care are carried out in a set of connecting rooms in the heart of the house," says Pardo.

"This house considers also real and imagined aspects: It is now projected as a diffuse space, free of partitions, where the boundaries between rooms are blurred so that any unexpected events can happen," says Pardo.

According to Pardo, "hedonism and pleasure" were the two concepts that guided most of his design decisions when renovating this attic penthouse.

The flexible and open layout allows Pardo to enjoy time alone or with friends—sitting by the fireplace in winter, soaking in the tub with the windows open in spring, or relaxing on the balcony and watching the stars on a warm summer night.