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      Eight home interiors where mezzanines maximise usable space

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      For our latest lookbook, we’ve rounded up eight home interiors that make clever use of mezzanines to optimise floorspace.

      Mezzanines, which are used as an intermediate level between the lower floor and a ceiling, have the ability to increase gross internal floor area by capitalising on extra ceiling height.
      These raised floors offer additional room to host a variety of spaces – including bedrooms, home offices and reading spaces, to name a few.
      Ranging from compact apartment renovations to newly-built, split-level holiday homes, this diverse collection of home interiors showcases how mezzanines can be used as a creative solution to maximise floorspace and create dynamic home layouts.
      This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring minimalist bathrooms with peaceful interiors, compact garden studios with neat storage solutions and homes lit by central courtyards.

      Photo by David DworkindHickson Residence, Canada, by Ménard Dworkind
      Located on the south shore of Montreal, this 1980s house was renovated by local studio Ménard Dworkind and features rounded plaster details and a terracotta fireplace.
      The studio added a sculptural mezzanine to the 520-square-meter home, which hosts the bedrooms, bathrooms and an office overlooking the double-height living room below.
      Find out more about Hickson Residence ›
      Photo by Seth CaplanDumbo Loft, USA, by Crystal Sinclair Designs 
      Crystal Sinclair Designs renovated this loft apartment in Brooklyn to include a mezzanine hosting a book collection, as well as a bedroom accessed via a ladder.
      The studio retained the space’s existing industrial look but complemented it by adding wooden furniture and white and grey marble.
      Find out more about Dumbo Loft ›
      Photo by José Hevia 105JON, Spain, by Vallribera Arquitectes
      This renovation of a narrow terraced house in Spain by Vallribera Arquitectes saw the studio add a mezzanine level to increase the home’s limited floor area.
      Defined by its blue-painted steel and chipwood construction, the mezzanine level offers space for two children’s bedrooms, along with a bathroom and a small study.
      Find out more about 105JON ›
      Photo by Pier CarthewKerr, Australia, by SSdH
      Housed in a former chocolate factory, Kerr is a warehouse apartment in Melbourne designed by local studio SSdH to include a split-level layout.
      A mezzanine-style level wrapped by a white steel-mesh balustrade occupies the upper floor and contains an open-plan living space and kitchen.
      Find out more about Kerr ›
      Photo by JAG StudioHorno de Pan, Ecuador, by ERDC Arquitectos
      ERDC Arquitectos and Taller General used brick and glass to construct this arched roof home in Quito that features an open mezzanine level.
      Split across three levels, the lowest level offers living and kitchen areas, while an entry, bathroom, bedrooms and studio are provided on the upper floors.
      Find out more about Horno de Pan ›
      Photo by Pierce ScourfieldFerguson, Scotland, by Duncan Blackmore, Lee Ivett and Simon Harlow
      Brightly coloured walls decorate this tiny apartment in Glasgow designed by Duncan Blackmore, Lee Ivett and Simon Harlow, which contains no freestanding furniture.
      To maximise floor and height space within the 25-square-metre home, a small mezzanine level hosts a sleeping space that is accessed via built-in wooden steps.
      Find out more about Ferguson ›
      Photo by José CamposHouse in Rua Direita de Francos, Portugal, by WeStudio and Made
      Mezzanine levels feature throughout the living and bedroom spaces within this gabled, stone house in Porto designed by We Studio and Made.
      A staircase in the kitchen space leads up to a study on a mezzanine level, while ladders in the bedrooms lead up to mezzanines situated above en-suite bathrooms or storage cupboards.
      Find out more about House in Rua Direita de Francos ›
      Photo by Rory GardinerCasa Alférez, Mexico, by Ludwig Godefroy
      Situated in a Mexican pine forest, this brutalist holiday home by Ludwig Godefroy is defined by concrete walls, built-in furniture and wooden floors.
      Composed of five half-levels organised around double-height spaces, the home’s compact arrangement was strategically designed to prioritise height over width.
      Find out more about Casa Alférez ›
      This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration, see previous lookbooks featuring minimalist bathrooms with peaceful interiors, compact garden studios with neat storage solutions and homes lit by central courtyards.

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      Barbican’s Unravel exhibition explores the subversive power of textiles

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      Curator Lotte Johnson discusses the transformative power of textiles in this video produced by Dezeen for the Barbican’s latest exhibition.

      Titled Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art, the exhibition examines how textiles have been employed to explore themes spanning power, oppression, gender and belonging.
      It features over 100 works that make use of textile, fibre and thread from over 50 artists from across the globe, spanning from the 1960s to the present day.
      The exhibition explores how artists have used textiles to express their lived experienceThe exhibition is designed to challenge the perception of textiles being solely domestic or craft practices and instead features textile works that relate a story of resistance and rebellion as well as pieces that present narratives of emancipation and joy.
      Johnson explained that textiles offer a meaningful medium to express personal and political issues due to their tactile nature and intimate connection to daily life.

      “Textiles are one of the most under-examined mediums in art history and in fact history itself,” Johnson said. “They are an intrinsic part of our everyday lives. When we’re born, we’re shrouded in a piece of fabric. Everyday we wrap ourselves in textiles,” she continued.
      “They’re really this very intimate, tactile part of our lives and therefore perhaps the most intrinsic, meaningful way to express ourselves.”
      Feminist artist Judy Chicago’s Birth Project depicts birth as a mystical and confrontational processThe exhibition is structured into six thematic sections. The first, called Subversive Stitch, presents works that challenge binary conceptions of gender and sexuality.
      The section includes feminist artist Judy Chicago’s Birth Project, which vividly depicts the glory, pain and mysticism of giving birth, as well as a piece from South African artist Nicholas Hlobo, which, despite initially appearing as a painting, is made using ribbon and leather stitched into a canvas.
      Another section of the exhibition is titled Bearing Witness, which brings together artists who employ textiles to confront and protest political injustices and systems of violent oppression.
      Artist Teresa Margolles creates collective tapestries that trigger conversations on police brutalityIncluded in this section are tapestries by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles that commemorate the lives of individuals including Eric Garner and Jadeth Rosano López.
      Garner was an African-American man killed in 2014 by NYPD police officer Daniel Pantaleo, who put Garner into a chokehold during arrest. López was a seventeen-year old-girl assassinated in Panama City.
      Margolles used fabric that had been placed in contact with the victims’ deceased bodies and collaborated with embroiderers from their respective local communities to create the tapestries.
      The Wound and Repair sections includes work from American artist and activist Harmony Hammond’s Bandaged Grid series, in which layered fabric is used to evoke imagery reminiscent of an injured body.
      Tau Lewis’ fabric assemblages offer new narratives of black historiesWhile violence and brutality are key themes examined in the exhibition, it also showcases how textiles can be used to create narratives of hope. The final, most expansive section of the exhibition is titled Ancestral Threads, which encompasses works created to inspire a sense of optimism and reconnect with ancestral practices.
      “This section not only explores artists processing exploitative and violent colonial and imperialist histories, but also celebrates the artists who are re-summoning and relearning ancient knowledge systems to imagine a different kind of future,” Johnson explained.
      Canadian multimedia artist Tau Lewis’s work titled The Coral Reef Preservation Society is a patchwork assemblage of recycled fabrics and seashells including fragments of textured denim.
      The work pays homage to the enslaved women and children thrown overboard in the Middle Passage, the historical transportation route used during the Atlantic slave trade. These women and children have been reimagined as underwater sea creatures to transform the narrative into one of regeneration.
      Vicuña revives the art of the quipu in her installation Quipu AustralA large installation by Chilean artist Cecilia Vicuña titled Quipu Austral is situated towards the end of the exhibition. The installation takes the form of billowing ribbons hanging from the ceiling.
      Vicuña references quipu, a form of recording used by a number cultures in Andean South America. Quipu was a ancient writing system which used knotted textile cords to communicate information.

      Resolve Collective reimagines role of institutions in Barbican installation

      Other sections in the exhibition include Fabric of Everyday, which explores the daily uses of textiles, as well as Borderlands, which examines how textiles have been used to challenge ideas around belonging.
      These sections feature works such as Shelia Hicks’ colourful woven bundles and Margarita Cabrera’s soft sculpture cacti crafted from reclaimed US border patrol uniforms.
      Mexican-American artist Margarita Cabrera uses reclaimed border patrol uniforms in her work”We hope that people might come out of this exhibition feeling invigorated and moved by the stories of resilience and rebellion embedded in the work but also hope and emancipation,” Johnson said.
      “I hope that the show might inspire people to pick up a needle and thread themselves and use it to express their own lived experience.”
      The show is a partnership between the Barbican and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and was co-curated by Barbican curators Johnson, Wells Fray-Smith and Diego Chocano, in collaboration with Amanda Pinatih from the Stedelijk.
      Unravel: The Power and Politics of Textiles in Art is at the Barbican Centre until 26 May 2024. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.
      Partnership content
      This video was produced by Dezeen for the Barbican Centre as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen’s partnership content here.

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      SODA offers model for office-to-residential conversions with Roca in Liverpool

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      London studio SODA has converted a 1970s office block in Liverpool city centre into a residential building that  includes co-working and wellness facilities.

      The adaptive reuse project sees the 10-storey block, which spent decades as an office for HM Revenue and Customs, transformed into rental homes managed by operator Livingway.
      Communal spaces take up most of the ground floorRoca contains 120 one- and two-bedroom apartments, plus two floors of co-living-style amenities for residents. These include workspaces, a large kitchen, cinema room, gym and treatment rooms and a planted roof terrace.
      Russell Potter, co-founding director at SODA, believes the project can serve as a model for office-to-residential conversions in city-centre locations.
      The design includes mix of flexible lounge and workspaces”The leaps that office design has made over the past decade or two have meant that certain period properties from the 1960s and 70s are perhaps not the most desirable from a commercial point of view,” he told Dezeen.

      “But if they occupy prime city-centre locations, they can offer amazing opportunities to adapt and re-use, to reinvigorate city centres with genuinely flexible and crafted spaces.”
      A timber “activity wall” provides surfaces, seating and storageLivingway’s model is a version of co-living. By offering Roca residents access to communal spaces, in addition to their apartments, it aims to foster a sense of community.
      Many of these shared spaces can be found on the ground floor. Here, various work, lounge and dining spaces are organised around a timber “activity wall” that provides surfaces, storage and seating.
      A communal kitchen is often used for cooking classes and demonstrationsOther interior details, such as folding screens, curtains and fluted glass windows, allow the space to be casually divided into different activity zones when required.
      Sometimes these spaces host workshops or classes, allowing residents to engage with local businesses.

      Chai Guys Portobello cafe interior evokes “the colour of spices”

      “We’re introducing an element of communal activity to act as a hub at ground floor, in a similar fashion to what’s been happening in other co-living arrangements,” said Potter.
      “It means you have the opportunity to create a genuine sense of community within a city centre.”
      The building was previously an office blockOn the apartment floors, the existing floorplates made it possible to create larger homes than typical co-living units, arranged on opposite sides of a central corridor.
      Apartments come fully furnished, with bedrooms and bathrooms separate from the living areas.
      The renovation provides 120 apartments in total”Office buildings typically have slim floor plates with decent floor spans and high proportions of glazing-to-floor area, so make ideal opportunities for residential conversion,” Potter explained.
      “Likewise, floor-to-ceiling heights don’t tend to pose an issue for residential,” he added. “Typically, commercial floor heights are higher than what you expect in residential, meaning that you get better aspects of light into the spaces.”
      The apartments are larger than is typical for co-livingLivingway offers five of these units as hotel rooms, available for short stay. But guests don’t have access to all of the communal facilities; most are reserved for residents.
      Technology plays an important role in the building management. An app allows residents to book certain rooms or sign up for workshops and classes, while digital locks allow access to be controlled.
      The communal spaces feature colours and patterns that reference the 1970sThe interior design approach reflects the building’s 1970s heritage, with furniture and finishes that don’t shy away from colour and pattern.
      Standout spaces include the cinema room, an all-red space featuring large upholstered chairs, tubular wall lights and art-deco-style mouldings.
      Across the rest of the ground floor, the exposed concrete waffle-slab overhead brings an industrial feel that contrasts with the warmth of the wood surfaces and soft furnishings.
      Standout spaces include a cinema screening roomThe homes feature a more subtle palette, with muted tones rather than white, to allow residents to bring their own personalities into the design.
      A similar level of care was brought to the outdoor spaces. These include an informal courtyard on the ground floor and the seventh-floor roof terrace, which incorporates a trio of hot tubs.
      A planted roof terrace includes three hot tubsThe project builds on SODA’s experience of designing shared spaces. The studio has designed various spaces for workplace provider The Office Group (TOG), including Liberty House and Thomas House.
      The collaboration with Livingway came about after the company reached out to the studio via Instagram.
      “It is amazing to see what a beautiful result has been produced and how much our residents truly enjoy calling Roco their home,” added Samantha Hay, CEO for Livingway.
      The photography is by Richard Chivers.

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      SODA offers model for office-to-residential conversions with Roco in Liverpool

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      London studio SODA has converted a 1970s office block in Liverpool city centre into a residential building that  includes co-working and wellness facilities.

      The adaptive reuse project sees the 10-storey block, which spent decades as an office for HM Revenue and Customs, transformed into rental homes managed by operator Livingway.
      Communal spaces take up most of the ground floorRoca contains 120 one- and two-bedroom apartments, plus two floors of co-living-style amenities for residents. These include workspaces, a large kitchen, cinema room, gym and treatment rooms and a planted roof terrace.
      Russell Potter, co-founding director at SODA, believes the project can serve as a model for office-to-residential conversions in city-centre locations.
      The design includes mix of flexible lounge and workspaces”The leaps that office design has made over the past decade or two have meant that certain period properties from the 1960s and 70s are perhaps not the most desirable from a commercial point of view,” he told Dezeen.

      “But if they occupy prime city-centre locations, they can offer amazing opportunities to adapt and re-use, to reinvigorate city centres with genuinely flexible and crafted spaces.”
      A timber “activity wall” provides surfaces, seating and storageLivingway’s model is a version of co-living. By offering Roca residents access to communal spaces, in addition to their apartments, it aims to foster a sense of community.
      Many of these shared spaces can be found on the ground floor. Here, various work, lounge and dining spaces are organised around a timber “activity wall” that provides surfaces, storage and seating.
      A communal kitchen is often used for cooking classes and demonstrationsOther interior details, such as folding screens, curtains and fluted glass windows, allow the space to be casually divided into different activity zones when required.
      Sometimes these spaces host workshops or classes, allowing residents to engage with local businesses.

      Chai Guys Portobello cafe interior evokes “the colour of spices”

      “We’re introducing an element of communal activity to act as a hub at ground floor, in a similar fashion to what’s been happening in other co-living arrangements,” said Potter.
      “It means you have the opportunity to create a genuine sense of community within a city centre.”
      The building was previously an office blockOn the apartment floors, the existing floorplates made it possible to create larger homes than typical co-living units, arranged on opposite sides of a central corridor.
      Apartments come fully furnished, with bedrooms and bathrooms separate from the living areas.
      The renovation provides 120 apartments in total”Office buildings typically have slim floor plates with decent floor spans and high proportions of glazing-to-floor area, so make ideal opportunities for residential conversion,” Potter explained.
      “Likewise, floor-to-ceiling heights don’t tend to pose an issue for residential,” he added. “Typically, commercial floor heights are higher than what you expect in residential, meaning that you get better aspects of light into the spaces.”
      The apartments are larger than is typical for co-livingLivingway offers five of these units as hotel rooms, available for short stay. But guests don’t have access to all of the communal facilities; most are reserved for residents.
      Technology plays an important role in the building management. An app allows residents to book certain rooms or sign up for workshops and classes, while digital locks allow access to be controlled.
      The communal spaces feature colours and patterns that reference the 1970sThe interior design approach reflects the building’s 1970s heritage, with furniture and finishes that don’t shy away from colour and pattern.
      Standout spaces include the cinema room, an all-red space featuring large upholstered chairs, tubular wall lights and art-deco-style mouldings.
      Across the rest of the ground floor, the exposed concrete waffle-slab overhead brings an industrial feel that contrasts with the warmth of the wood surfaces and soft furnishings.
      Standout spaces include a cinema screening roomThe homes feature a more subtle palette, with muted tones rather than white, to allow residents to bring their own personalities into the design.
      A similar level of care was brought to the outdoor spaces. These include an informal courtyard on the ground floor and the seventh-floor roof terrace, which incorporates a trio of hot tubs.
      A planted roof terrace includes three hot tubsThe project builds on SODA’s experience of designing shared spaces. The studio has designed various spaces for workplace provider The Office Group (TOG), including Liberty House and Thomas House.
      The collaboration with Livingway came about after the company reached out to the studio via Instagram.
      “It is amazing to see what a beautiful result has been produced and how much our residents truly enjoy calling Roco their home,” added Samantha Hay, CEO for Livingway.
      The photography is by Richard Chivers.

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      Uchronia founder designs own home as “love letter to French craft”

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      Glossy walls, ruched curtains and oversized flower-shaped cushions characterise this eclectic 1970s-style Paris apartment, designed and owned by Uchronia founder Julien Sebban.

      Called Univers Uchronia, the apartment is in the city’s 18th arrondissement, close to the Uchronia office – a Parisian architecture and interiors studio known for its bold application of shape, colour and reflective surfaces.
      Julien Sebban designed Univers Uchronia as his homeSebban designed the dwelling as his home, which he shares with his husband and Maison Royère artistic director Jonathan Wray.
      The Uchronia founder created the apartment as an extension of his studio – “it’s truly a manifesto of our universe,” he told Dezeen.
      Colourful interiors anchor the apartmentSebban worked with local studio Atelier Roma to create all the walls and ceilings, which are either lacquered and glossy or made of matte pigmented concrete, respectively reflecting or absorbing light throughout the day.

      Finished in hues ranging from cloud-like pale blue to lemony yellow, the walls and ceilings complement the poured-in-place resin floor that spans the apartment and features a bold motif that “waves and moves in relation to the architecture”.
      A metallic island features in the open-plan kitchenThe home is anchored by a predominantly pink living space, which includes Uchronia-designed pieces such as low-slung interlocking coffee tables made from walnut burl and orange resin.
      Translucent and gathered pink curtains were paired with a geometric vintage bookshelf and a blocky but soft sofa finished in purple and orange.
      A bespoke onyx dining table was created for the home”The apartment is very colourful with ’60s and ’70s inspirations and a mix of our contemporary pieces and vintage objects,” said Sebban.
      In the open-plan kitchen and dining room, a veiny Van Gogh onyx table was positioned next to a metallic kitchen island, illuminated by a blobby seaweed-shaped table lamp.
      Ornamental jellyfish decorate the home officeA portion of the otherwise orange wall was clad with tiny, mirrored tiles. Reflected in the gleaming ceiling, the tiles have the same effect as a shimmering disco ball.
      Opposite the dining area is Sebban and Wray’s home office, characterised by a bright orange, built-in day bed topped with silk flower-like cushions and a wave-shaped backrest.
      The dwelling’s bathrooms follow a similar designAbove the bed, ornamental jellyfish were suspended like planets against a constellation of gold stars, which decorate the ombre orange and yellow wall that nods to the colour-drenched interior of the city’s Cafe Nuances – also designed by Uchronia.
      The dwelling’s bathrooms follow a similar design. Accents include dusty pink alcoves and ceramic tiles depicting underwater scenes, as well as a lily pad-shaped rug and a mirror resembling a cluster of clouds.

      Ten self-designed homes that reflect the unique styles of their owners

      “The apartment defines the codes we have tried to develop at Uchronia over the last four years,” concluded Sebban.
      “It’s a play on colours, textures and materials, and a love letter to French craft.”
      Univers Uchronia is “a love letter to French craft”Uchronia was named emerging interior designer of the year at the Dezeen Awards 2023. The studio previously renovated a Haussmann-era apartment for a pair of jewellery designers with multifaceted furniture pieces created to mirror the appearance of precious stones.
      Various architects have designed their own homes, such as John Pawson, who created this minimalist second home in the Cotswolds in the UK.
      The photography is by Félix Dol Maillot. 

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      Galerie Patrick Seguin blends VR with physical installation to recreate Jean Prouvé house

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      An exhibition at Galerie Patrick Seguin in Paris allows visitors to experience the Jean Prouvé-designed Maison Les Jours Meilleurs in both real life and virtual reality.

      The gallery is exhibiting the most significant element of the demountable prefabricated house, its load-bearing service core, in a full-scale installation that doubles as a virtual reality (VR) experience.
      The load-bearing service core is key to the design of the original Maison Les Jours Meilleurs (above and top image)Prouvé, the French architect best known for applying mass-production principles to both buildings and furniture, developed the design for the 57-square-metre house in 1956.
      Known as Maison Les Jours Meilleurs, or “better days house”, the house was designed to tackle a homelessness crisis in the French capital.
      This core is the centrepiece of the exhibition at Galerie Patrick SeguinIn the winter of 1954, temperatures dropped so low that a woman and child died from the cold.

      After being denied a request for funding to provide emergency housing, Abbé Pierre – a Catholic priest who was the founder of the Emmaüs movement against poverty – put out a plea on the radio for aid.

      Jean Prouvé’s designs “more relevant today” says daughter Catherine Prouvé

      Prouvé responded immediately and, in a few weeks, had developed a design he felt could offer the solution.
      The design centres around the service core, a steel cylinder painted olive green. This provides all the kitchen and bathroom services and carries the weight of the building’s roof.
      It is installed on a full-scale sketch floor planProuvé first exhibited a prototype of the Maison Les Jours Meilleurs on Quai Alexandre-III in February 1956.
      This was described by fellow architect Le Corbusier as “the handsomest house I know of, the most perfect object for living in, the most sparkling thing ever constructed”.
      However, the model never made it to production and only a handful were ever built.
      A VR headset transforms the scene into a 3D visualisation of the houseGalerie Patrick Seguin owns the world’s largest collection of Prouvé houses, which it has installed in exhibitions around the world. In 2015, it commissioned architect Richard Rogers to put a new spin on one.
      This exhibition marks the first time the gallery has allowed a Prouvé house to be experienced in virtual reality.
      It shows the house installed on the banks of the Seine in ParisThe installation places the service core inside a full-scale sketch floor plan that reveals the house’s layout.
      A VR headset transforms the scene into a visualisation of the house, placing it back on the spot where it was installed in 1956, on the banks of the Seine.
      The photography is courtesy of Galerie Patrick Seguin.
      Jean Prouvé, Maison Les Jours Meilleurs is on show at Galerie Patrick Seguin from 14 March to 20 April 2024. See Dezeen Events Guide for more architecture and design events around the world.

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      Tigg + Coll Architects moves studio into converted Victorian mission church

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      Tigg + Coll Architects has converted part of an abandoned mission church in west London into a flexible studio, with the rest of the building set to be turned into homes.

      The studio, led by architects David Tigg and Rachel Coll, has completed the first phase of a redevelopment project that will see all of the Victorian church building in Brook Green brought back into use.
      The Victorian building was previously a mission churchTaking up a third of the building volume, the two-storey Addison Studios features a first-floor workspace for the Tigg + Coll team and a ground-floor space that can be used for meetings or events.
      This ground floor has a flexible layout that can function as a single space or separate zones. It includes a kitchen with an island counter, a materials library on wheels, meeting tables and pin-up areas.
      A first-floor workspace features a restored rose window”We wanted to find a permanent home for our studio that could showcase our ethos and skill sets,” Tigg told Dezeen.

      “When we heard on the grapevine that this local landmark was up for sale and looking for someone to come in and bring it back to life, we were smitten.”
      Original steel trusses are now highlighted in turquoiseLocated in a residential area, the building is believed to be 125 years old. It had been adapted many times, with numerous extensions added, and had fallen into disrepair.
      “It had great bones but sadly had been slowly left to deteriorate, with ramshackle extensions and other alterations that took away from the simple and robust beauty of the existing building,” said Tigg.
      The ground floor is a flexible meeting and events spaceTigg + Coll’s approach was to strip the building back to its original structure and find clever ways of highlighting its history and architectural features.
      Glazing was replaced including a previously concealed rose window that is now the focal point of the building’s gabled end wall.
      It includes a kitchen with a terrazzo island counterBrickwork walls were exposed but only repaired where necessary, while decorative steel trusses were uncovered and painted turquoise to stand out against the white-washed timber ceiling boards.
      “We wanted to allow the reality of the existing building and its materiality to be central to the final finish,” said Tigg.

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      “The principle was to pair it back and make the accents very clear,” he continued. “Nothing was to be covered up if we could help it.”
      “Any existing features not being restored were either relocated to replace damaged or missing elements or left in place and infilled to create a visible collage or quasi memorial of the building’s history.”
      The new mezzanine is built from glulam timber, blockwork and steelA new mezzanine was installed to provide the first-floor workspace with an exposed structure formed of blockwork, glulam timber joists and steel I-beams coloured in a slightly paler shade of turquoise to the trusses above.
      The floor is set back from the windows, creating a clear divide between old and new while new skylights increase the overall level of daylight that enters.
      The first floor is set back from the windowsSeveral new materials are introduced on the ground floor. The pin-up wall is formed of cork, while the kitchen counter is a custom terrazzo made using some of the site’s demolition waste.
      This space allows the Tigg + Coll team to come together for group lunches, presentations or collaborative work. It also provides opportunities for both video calls and formal meetings and could be used for events.
      A cork wall provides a pin-up space”We wanted a calm office that was uplifting, inspirational and unlike a typical work environment,” said Tigg.
      “You can spend time conscientiously working on the mezzanine and then get away from the screen time with a break downstairs. It really helps with mental balance throughout the day.”
      The design aims to celebrate the building’s historyTigg and Coll founded their studio in 2008. They specialise in residential projects, across private homes, housing developments, student living and co-living.
      Past projects include House for Theo + Oskar, designed to support the needs of two children with a rare muscular disorder, and Chapter Living King’s Cross, an innovative student housing project.
      The rest of the building is set to be converted to residentialNow that they have moved into Addison Studios, the architects are set to move forward with the rest of the conversion.
      “We are in an age where it is more important than ever to showcase how the principle of retrofit can not only be a pragmatic and cost-effective choice, but also create immensely warm, characterful and beautiful spaces for working, living and just generally enjoying,” Tigg concluded.

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      Destudio inverts day and night zones at redesigned Casa Inversa apartment

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      Architecture office Destudio has remodelled an apartment in Valencia for a couple of empty nesters, swapping the positions of the living and sleeping areas so they perform better for the owners’ lifestyles.

      The clients, who recently worked with Destudio to design their pharmacy in the Spanish city, invited the studio to oversee the renovation of the 150-square-metre apartment that had been their home for two decades.
      The couple’s grown-up children no longer live with them and Destudio saw this change in circumstances as an opportunity to create an entirely new and more appropriate layout.
      Destudio swapped the positions of living and sleeping areas in Casa Inversa”We worked with the owners to convince them to make a ‘tabula rasa’ of how they lived in this house for the last 20 years and find a better distribution for their actual needs,” Destudio creative director Gabi Ladaria told Dezeen.
      “It was tough for the family to recognise that every wall had to be demolished,” he added, “but when they saw the first plans and 3Ds they realised there were better ways to live in their house, being more honest with their needs in the coming years.”

      An initial survey of how the existing spaces were used informed the decision to switch the position of the private and communal areas so the main living space receives the best of the available sunlight. This act gave the project its name, Casa Inversa.
      The dining area was positioned in the corner of the living roomConversations with the clients revealed that they wanted the kitchen to be the heart of the house as this is where they spend a lot of time preparing and eating meals throughout the day.
      This informed the decision to reduce the size of the dedicated dining area by incorporating it into a corner of the living room.
      The kitchen was designed as the heart of the homeA cantilevered bench minimises the floor area used so the adjacent lounge feels more generous.
      “We use this strategy in our restaurant projects to maximise the number of diners,” Ladaria pointed out, “but here it is used to maximise the space in the other part of the corner bench where the living room is located.”

      Tactile materials “accentuate the value of shadows” in Bolívar House

      The studio added that the table is likely to be used infrequently, mostly when friends or family come to visit, so it was designed like a restaurant booth to make the dining experience feel like eating out.
      The kitchen opens onto a terrace with outdoor seating, while on the opposite wall a wine display backed with semi-opaque glass provides a visual connection with the adjoining utility space. Sliding glass doors can be closed to separate the kitchen and the adjacent sitting room if required.
      Sliding glass doors separate the living area and kitchenThe apartment’s three bedrooms were relocated to the opposite end of the floor plan, where they overlook the building’s internal courtyards.
      The principal bedroom and one of the guest rooms are accommodated in an angular corner that previously housed the living room. The main bedroom’s dressing area features cupboards that extend along one wall, making the most of the space.
      A material palette consisting of clay-rendered walls, oak joinery and porcelain tiles acts as a warm backdrop for the clients’ art collection.
      Clay render covers the wallsWhere possible, Destudio specified furniture from local brands, including the sofa, armchairs and the living room’s library shelving.
      Destudio was founded in 2014 by architects Gabi Ladaria and Nacho Díaz, who studied together at Valencia’s Polytechnic University.
      Other recent residential projects in Valencia include the renovation of a former fisherman’s house using geometric blue-and-white tiling and a copper-toned home in an olive grove.
      The photography is courtesy of Destudio.

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