COLAB, a collaborative project by Sancal and Lucas Muñoz Muñoz. Together, they transformed part of Madrid’s first modern office building, O’Donnell 34, into a creative laboratory.

Designed in 1966 by pioneering architect Antonio Lamela, it was both an honour and a challenge. His son, who continues the practice, lent his support.

Carefully stripping back decades of fittings - more archaeology than architecture – Sancal and Muñoz carefully reinterpreted part of Spain’s first modern office building.

Any material that could not be recycled, remained. Transformed into new decorative elements with workers from associations that help those at risk of social exclusion.

COLAB reimagines interior architecture as a living, open-ended dialogue, rooted not in rigid plans, but in trust, experimentation, and craft. Rather than imposing a new aesthetic, the team listened to what the space itself had to say.

The project began with a radical premise: to reuse everything in the building that couldn’t be recycled. Layers of materials, applied over decades, were carefully peeled back. What seemed like rubble became raw potential, a quarry of forgotten matter waiting to be transformed.

With no way of knowing what lay beneath, no conventional planning was possible. Instead, the process became an exercise in faith, guided by improvisation, ingenuity, and respect for the building’s original 60’s spirit.

Upcycling played a central role: fluorescent housings became LED fixtures thanks to local social enterprises; aluminium partitions became shelving; steel pedestals were reborn as handles and hooks; the metal undersides of raised floors turned into reflective panels, enhancing pioneering architect Antonio Lamela’s energy-efficient, light-reflecting zigzag marbol façade.

Original terrazzo floors, concrete pillars, and ceilings were revealed and restored. Walls were repositioned instead of demolished.

COLAB also pioneered a human-centred construction model, bringing together artisans, social inclusion programmes, and a multidisciplinary team. Decisions were made in real time, inviting ongoing learning and flexibility.

This methodology is scalable and replicable—a blueprint for sustainable renovation that embraces uncertainty as a space for innovation. COLAB proposes not perfection, but a more agile, resourceful, and responsible way of shaping the built environment.