Interior design for Mediterranean homes
Looking for an interior architect for a home abroad?
Atelier Cantera designs and runs private residential projects across the Mediterranean, for owners who mostly buy from abroad. Three practices, a six-stage process, and fees whose calculation method is written down before it is discussed.
Our interior architecture services
Interior architecture
The core of the work. Reworking a plan so the house suits how you actually live, bringing light deep into it, and holding the material and the detail to the same standard as the layout.
- Full plan reconfiguration, new rooms, structural openings
- Kitchens and bathrooms drawn for the house, not picked from a catalogue
- Lighting designed room by room, in scenes rather than in fittings
- Materials and finishes selected, sampled and set out
Architecture
Extensions, reconfiguring an existing volume, or the rehabilitation of a whole building. The thinking starts from volume and structure, not from the finishes that come later.
- Feasibility and capacity studies before you commit to a purchase
- Extensions and volume transformations
- Rehabilitation of houses and commercial premises
- Coordination of local engineers and technical consultants
Set design and furniture
One-off pieces drawn for one specific place, and the staging of temporary spaces. This is what connects the studio to Paleto, our gallery, and what lets a work of art enter a project at the design stage rather than at the end.
- Bespoke furniture, from drawing to workshop supervision
- Retail and hospitality interiors
- Exhibition design and temporary installations
- Art integration and artistic direction of the place
The process, in six stages
Each stage produces a document you keep, and ends in an explicit decision. When you are buying from another country, that matters more than anywhere: every site report is written and illustrated, so you can follow the work without flying out for it.
- Survey and diagnosisWe measure the property, read the building regulations and technical documents, and identify what genuinely constrains the project before drawing a single line.2 to 4 days
- ConceptThe brief is written down, two or three plan strategies are studied and compared, material atmospheres are set, and each option carries its own construction budget.6 to 12 days
- Design developmentThe chosen strategy becomes a buildable set: detailed plans, electrical and lighting layouts, bespoke joinery, tiling setouts and every material decided one by one.12 to 25 days
- TenderingThe set goes out to contractors, bids are analysed trade by trade and brought to the same basis of comparison, then refined with the firms you select.4 to 8 days
- Construction supervisionRegular site visits, written reports, decisions on the unforeseen, and control of both compliance with the drawings and adherence to the budget.3 to 5 days per month on site
- CompletionDefects are listed and then cleared, the as-built record is assembled, and the file stays with you for the upkeep of the property.2 to 4 days
Our interior architect fees
A fee is not a feeling about price, it is a number of days multiplied by a cost. We calculate both, and we check the result by a second route before quoting it to you.
Fixed fee, for design
Each design stage is sold at a fixed price with a written, limitative scope: how many options are studied, how many images produced, how many meetings, how many rounds of revision included. A fixed fee without a scope is an open invoice, for you as much as for us.
Percentage of works, for the site
Site supervision follows the value and the duration of the works, so it is paid as a percentage, tied to a reference duration. Without that duration, a job that drags on costs more than it earns, and that always gets paid for somewhere.
Time charge, for what falls outside
A request beyond the agreed scope, an extra visit, a redesign after sign-off: that is time charged, quoted before it is spent. Nothing is invoiced after the fact without having been said beforehand.
For a sense of scale: a full mission on a high-end residential interior usually sits between 10 and 15 % of the construction cost, and higher where bespoke joinery makes up a large share. Design alone accounts for roughly half of that total. We always check a fixed fee twice, by the time it buys and by the percentage it represents: when the two agree, the price is right.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to design a full interior renovation?
The four design phases add up to 24 to 49 days of work, each one detailed above. Spread across a real calendar, with review rounds and the tendering period, that usually means two to four months before work starts on site.
How are your fees calculated?
Three ways, set out above. A fixed fee for design, with a written and limited scope. A percentage of construction cost for site supervision. Time spent for anything outside the agreed scope. A fee is a number of days multiplied by a cost, and we work out both before quoting.
Can we stop after the concept stage, without going to site?
Yes. Each phase produces a document you keep and ends with an explicit decision. You can stop at the end of any of them, with what has been produced, and hand the rest to whoever you choose.
Where do you work?
The studio works from Paris and Mexico City, on projects across the Mediterranean, the Gulf and China. Distance is handled the same way as a local project: written reports after each site visit, and decisions put to you in writing before they are taken.
Do you work with local craftsmen and materials?
Yes, and it is what the studio is named after. Cantera stone, tezontle and Oaxaca green are worked with the contemporary trades that carry them on, and every material is settled one by one during the design development phase.
The first conversation is there to frame the work, not to sell it: what you want to do, what the property allows, the order of magnitude of the budget and a realistic timeline. Write us a few lines, with the location and floor area if you have them.
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