Guide to designer shops in Madrid

From Le Corbusier to the Bouroullec brothers via Charlotte Perriand, without forgetting the best of Italian design or the top of Spanish creativity, headed by Patricia Urquiola or Jaime Hayon, if you are passionate about surrounding yourself at home with the most admired iconic pieces of the great masters of the 20th century or with the most outstanding design of the 21st century, this selection of shops will be an essential and up-to-date guide for strolling around the city and enjoying the beauty of a chair, a lamp or a simple vase.

Nostalgics will remember that temple of design in shops like BD Madrid, where architects and interior designers chose furniture and lighting selected with immense taste and unveiled the best of design outside our borders. However, the alternatives that came later, or those that have remained in place over time, are fantastic.

These establishments are places where you can find that perfect sofa which, thanks to its impeccable workmanship and design, will guarantee its permanence over time, what could be more sustainable? Behind it will undoubtedly be a creator, a brand and a salesperson who are experts in the field to guide us towards a successful purchase and happy enjoyment.

Make a note of these ten names, true cardinal points of design in Madrid, and enjoy your visit!

BOCONCEPT

This Danish firm founded in the 50s, with more than 300 shops in more than 60 countries and which opened its first establishment in Paris, has been present in Madrid for more than two decades. Currently, it is in the middle of moving out of its shop located in Lagasca 88, where everything is at incredible prices. It will soon open its doors, probably at the end of January, in a new space also located in the heart of the Salamanca neighbourhood at Velázquez 75, which, as announced, will show a change of aesthetics. In addition to its classic best sellers, such as the Imola armchair, an icon of Nordic design designed by Henrik Pedersen, we will see novelties such as the Lugano sideboard, the Bolzano chaise longue and the Granada table, all three with very comfortable curvilinear shapes and designed by Morten Georgsen, the brand’s creative director; and the Salamanca sofa, a Pedersen creation that recalls the designs of the 70s. We will be very attentive to the reopening!

CASSINA

Without leaving the Salamanca neighbourhood, this shop on Calle Lagasca 28 is an essential stop to discover the best of Italian design from this firm with almost a hundred years of history, where the value of historical tradition and the most innovative aesthetics are recognised. With interior design by Patricia Urquiola, this showroom, open since 2017, has a surface area of 360 m², distributed over two floors where you can find everything from iconic Cassina products designed by masters of design such as Le Corbusier, Marco Zanusso and Franco Albini, to its most recent novelties. A fact: its iMaestri collection, which brings together and updates pieces by some of the great furniture designers of the 20th century, such as Gio Ponti, Charlotte Perriand, Le Corbusier, Carlo Scarpa, G.T. Rietveld, has just celebrated its 50th anniversary. Among the latest additions are the Moncloud sofa by Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola (the brand’s art director), the Esosoft collection by Antonio Citterio and the re-edition of the Doge Laguna table by the master Carlo Scarpa.

DR CONCEPT

The innate elegance of one of the most veteran and outstanding interior designers and designers on the Spanish scene is reflected in the shops he founded under the Concepto DR umbrella. With more than three decades dedicated to the world of decoration, Diego Rodríguez has devised projects in Paris, London and Mexico, has participated in some twenty editions of Casa Decor and leads a multidisciplinary team spread over two shops that are a benchmark in Madrid. On calle Castelló 7, he exhibits the collections of the Italian firm Molteni & C with pieces signed by Patricia Urquiola, Rodolfo Dordoni, Neri & Hu, Arik Levi and Luca Nichetto, among others; to which are added the mythical kitchens of the firm Dada with designs signed by Luca Meda and Vincent Van Duysen; and a section dedicated to outdoor furniture by the Minotti brand. Meanwhile, on calle Príncipe de Vergara 33, is the Minotti showroom, a shop that opened around twelve years ago where, over 300 m2 distributed over two levels, they present the iconic collections and also the latest novelties, as well as furniture and accessories from various brands, such as Ceccotti, and all the most outstanding collections from Minotti, the firm that they represent exclusively. The different environments show solutions to furnish the living room, bedroom and office.

DOMESTICHOP

With shops open in the streets of Lagasca 87 and Claudio Coello 53, DomésticoShop has been offering a selection of contemporary design furniture and lighting and decorative accessories from the best brands made by leading designers, such as & Tradition, Andreu World, Artek, Carl Hansen & Søn, Ferm Living, Fritz Hansen, Gandia Blasco, Marset and nanimarquina, to a total of more than 120 national and international brands. They like to define themselves as “the home of contemporary design”. This establishment has quickly become a point of reference, above all, for its defence of 100% original design and because they strive to “disseminate design, the designer and the firm equally”, they say. They also have a strong presence in eCommerce and have a shop in Barcelona. Here you will find pieces created by great architects and masters of design who have become true icons, whose relevance is still relevant today. Not surprisingly, this company believes that “to surround oneself with design is to contribute to one’s own happiness and emotional wellbeing”, they say.

KARTELL

This Italian firm, founded seven decades ago by the Luti family and converted over the past quarter of a century into one of the first companies that opted for plastic design and which now manufactures most of its collections in high-quality recycled materials with a sustainable philosophy, has a flagship shop in Madrid on calle Claudio Coello. In a space of 200 m2 on calle Claudio Coello, it reproduces in ample spaces different ambiences of the house equipped with its entire catalogue, including the mythical Ghost chairs by Philippe Starck and the famous Componibili cylinder by Anna Castelli, as well as the latest novelties. Noteworthy among them are the Thierry XXL dining and bar tables, the K-Family collection of upholstered furniture by Rodolfo Dordoni or the new versions of two classic chairs, the Eleganza Missoni, also by Philippe Starck, and the Clap, by Patricia Urquiola.

MINIM MADRID

Since 2019, the firm MINIM, which has had a shop in Barcelona for more than two decades, has opened MINIM Madrid on Paseo de la Castellana 92. This shop presents in a space of 500 m2, a selection of contemporary furniture, office and outdoor furniture, as well as lighting from renowned international brands such as B&B Italia, House of Finn Juhl, Fritz Hansen, Living Divani, Maxalto, Porro or Knoll and, in lighting, Santa & Cole, Moooi, Oluce and Viabizzuno. With Quinita Cotorruelo at the helm, it has interior designers who carry out personalised decoration projects.

NAHARRO

This shop has been a benchmark in Madrid’s design shops since it opened in 2005 and has three shops that are off the beaten track in the Salamanca district and are located in calle Granada, calle Sancho Dávila and calle Narciso Serra. Opened with “the intention of filling a gap in modern furniture with 20th century classics, when until then what predominated was English furniture and to focus on rationalist decoration”, explains Nuria Naharro. In total they have 2,500 m2 where you can find the best selection of brands, from Knoll to Cassina, as well as the most outstanding Scandinavian brands. They also organise temporary events such as the recent retrospective dedicated to Jean Prouvé and carried out in collaboration with Vitra or one with the work of the painter Alfredo Álvarez Plágaro, open in the Sancho Dávila premises until 28 February.

PILMA

Since 2021, Pilma has a 1,000 m2 shop located in the emblematic Calle Velázquez, on the corner of Jorge Juan, where the Catalan brand with more than 45 years of business experience offers a careful selection of furniture, lighting and decorative accessories. The shop is distributed over several levels connected by a staircase of organic shapes and a lift with a transparent glass box that creates a sensation of space and a luminosity in which the selected pieces stand out. Among them there are mainly Spanish firms, such as Stua or mythical designs such as Coderch’s lamps, to give just two examples. This shop is in addition to Pilma Travel, the company’s own shop in Serrano, which focuses on exclusive travel luggage.

QBIKA

With premises open in Jorge Juan and Quintana streets, Qbika is also an interior design and decoration studio that on the one hand carries out kitchen and bathroom renovation projects or complete renovations and on the other hand has a selection of furniture, lighting and accessories from brands such as the Italian Cesar Cucine, De Padova, Porro and Living Divani, but also Nordic brands such as Gubi and Bolia and Spanish brands such as Santa & Cole.

SCHNEIDER COLAO

A must-see address in the Justicia neighbourhood, Schneider Colao is not a design shop, and it’s not even a shop because it’s more like a design gallery like the ones we visit with interest in Milan, Brussels, Paris or London. Open since 2009, within its walls they treasure original pieces by the great names in design, as they are dedicated to offering original furniture centred on the mid-century period. At the same time, it is a studio founded by architects Úrsula Schneider and Jesús Colao, who have signed very personal projects such as the OSA restaurant in Madrid and have open studios in Geneva and Mallorca. Among the must-sees are a mirror by Josef Frank, dated 1939; the Safari chair by Mogens Koch, from 1963; and a floor lamp by Kho Liang Lee, from 1958. They also organise interesting temporary exhibitions, sometimes in collaboration with other cultural organisations. Open by appointment, but it is possible to visit from 11am to 2am and from 5pm to 8pm.

Editor: Beatriz Fabián

Beatriz is a journalist specialising in offline and online editorial content on design, architecture, interior design, art, gastronomy and lifestyle.