Spanish accessories brand Malababa is opening up a new space in Madrid’s Serrano 8, where its structure symbolizes and reproduces the firm’s identity features: light, texture, color and shapes. It is in itself a return to their roots, where raw beauty’s natural sense gets established as different, authentic and truly attractive. Everything in Serrano 8 Malababa calls for authenticity which becomes more beautiful within time. And this is precisely one of Malababa’s mantras.

Founders of Malababa Ana Carrasco and Jaime Lara, together with design and architecture studios Ciszak Dalmas and Matteo Ferrari, have joined forces day after day to materialize the dream of Malababa at Serrano 8. The architects built a space that reflects store’s products: with passion, consistency, honesty, and sustainability. A retreat that breathes creativity and total involvement of all team members.

The walls

The “imperfect finish” and natural hues of Malababa’s aesthetics strengthen the artisan and sustainable concept. Architects rendered with a mix of Galician clay, white marble powder from Almería and natural, ecological and non-toxic food thickeners. This kind of finish regulates air moisture and temperature and maintains the space free of bacteria and harmful microorganisms, as well as considerable helping save energy throughout the year.

The furniture

Malababa at Serrano 8 is born as a space full of soul, with an identity that allows it to adapt to changes and endure through times. The store furniture pieces mobile modules that can be combined and rebuilt as needed. They have been manufactured using limestone from Seville, aged brass, and beautiful moss agate. Some of them are lined using the same leather that Malababa uses for manufacturing in some collections.

The lattice structure and the mud

Behind the lattice structure, there is a great team job. The tiles have been placed one by one by all involved members, and they have that welcoming warmth of traditional craftsmanship. These bricks have been artisanally manufactured in Toledo with mud from Extremadura quarries, baked in an H2G oven, 100% ecological, using biomass as fuel.

The eco-cement

The eco-cement coating some of the store interiors is sustainable, and it has a guarantee of international certificates such as the German Emicode, which certifies low volatile compound –VOC- emissions in building materials.

The curtain

And, this way, as if the brand’s designs would have become space, emerges a spectacular leather curtain which covers one of the internal walls. Malababa’s master craftsman Osvaldo Ruben manufactured this decorative item, with entire pieces of vegetally tanned cowhide leather. Again, the same that Malababa used in Métrica accessories collection.

The agate crystals

Although not only leather is present in every corner of the store, the agate crystals that make Minihontas and Nanohontas bags come alive are also one of the unifying threads. These stones take modular shapes and get harmoniously embedded into one of the wall units. As if they were back in the place where they came from, it feels like that is where they have always belonged.

Photography by Asier Rua