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Russian practice Blockstudio has mixed different materials, textures and time periods within this new-build Moscow apartment to create the feeling of a lived-in Parisian interior. More
New images of the interiors of 130 William, architect David Adjaye’s concrete skyscraper in New York, show repeating arch motifs that recall the tower’s facade. More
Double-height shelving and custom glass vitrines create ample storage space in this Amsterdam apartment, which was designed by local studio i29 to accommodate the owner’s vast collection of art and books.Located in a former industrial area in the north of the city, the 180-square-metre apartment is on the second floor of a residential block and belongs to a writer and art collector.
Above: double-height storage walls divide the space. Top image: they include a mixture of cabinets and open shelving
Built in 2020, the apartment block was set up as a Collectief Particulier Opdrachtgeverschap (CPO), which means collective private commissioning. In the Netherlands, this is a form of social project development in which a group of individuals act as the client for a new-build project.
The building is developed as a group and each owner buys an empty shell. They can then design and build partitions in their own apartment according to their specific needs.
A green couch anchors the open-plan living room
Local studio i29 was commissioned to create a custom interior that would showcase the owner’s expansive personal library and an art collection of around 100 pieces.
“Having such a huge collection of artworks, our client wanted only one thing: to have the ultimate display and storage space,” i29 told Dezeen. “We started making a programme of requirements and calculating the exact amount of shelving we would need.”
i29 created a mezzanine level to house two bedrooms
The designers were presented with an open loft space with double-height ceilings and no fixed layout.
On the ground floor, i29 created an open-plan space for the entrance area, kitchen and living room. A series of small sculptures are displayed on glass shelves in the kitchen, while larger artworks are placed up against the walls or mounted on them.
The apartment accommodates more than 100 artworks
A mezzanine level was inserted within the double height space, housing a bathroom, two bedrooms and an office.
Two custom-designed larch wood storage walls span the full height of the apartment and include a mixture of cabinets and open shelving. They help to create a visual connection between the two levels, while concealing an integrated staircase that runs up to the mezzanine level.
The bespoke kitchen is finished in larch wood and matt grey HPL
The bespoke kitchen and all of the cabinets throughout the apartment are finished in a combination of larch and matt grey high-pressure laminate (HPL).
The floor is made from matching resin, as i29 wanted to keep the material palette deliberately neutral in order to let the art take centre stage.
i29 and Spacon & X named interior designers of the year at Dezeen Awards
“The stark and simple spatial interventions stand in contrast to the colourful pieces of art, balancing and supplementing each other,” the studio explained.
The mezzanine also houses a home office
In a similar apartment project featured on Dezeen earlier this year, EBBA Architects used structural ash and pine joinery – including a staircase, mezzanine and double-height storage wall – to connect the levels within a refurbished, open-plan apartment in London.
Photography is by Ewout Huibers.
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Amsterdam studio Barde + vanVoltt has inserted skylights and glass partition walls into this former garage to transform it into a light-filled family home that celebrates the building’s industrial past.Located in central Amsterdam, just a few steps away from the Rijksmuseum, the 100-square-metre space is on the ground floor of a residential terrace built in the 1930s. It originally hosted a hardware store but was most recently used as a garage.
Above: wood-framed glass doors lead into the bedrooms. Top image: a wood-panelled kitchen is located at the front of the apartment
Barde + vanVoltt was asked to transform the building into a wide and open family home for four that brings in as much natural light as possible. The brief also called for the use of sustainable and natural materials as well as a simple, minimalist interior that allows details to stand out.
“We wanted to keep the space as wide as possible without having corridors or a hallway because that’s what makes this space unique in Amsterdam,” Barde + vanVoltt co-founder Valérie Boerma told Dezeen. “Most apartments are divided over multiple levels and are very narrow.”
The dining room, kitchen and lounge share an open-plan space
Working to a six-month deadline, the studio’s first challenge was to channel natural light from the street-facing front of the building to the rear.
The large, double front doors that open up onto the road were switched from solid wood to glass, maximising the amount of light in the apartment’s open-plan kitchen, dining and living area.
The wooden doorframes are arched in a nod to art deco
At the rear of the building, Barde + vanVoltt raised the roof and converted the ceiling into skylights. Underneath, the plan accommodates a total of three bedrooms – a master with an en-suite and two children’s rooms that double as playrooms.
Each is delineated by timber-framed glass walls and doors, allowing natural light to filter into these darker spaces.
The apartments clay walls have built-in storage
The designers’ second challenge was balancing the integrity of the property with the needs of a young family.
“We drew inspiration from the building’s industrial past into the choice of materials and refined the selection based on durability and sustainability,” said the studio.
A free-standing tin bath anchors the en-suite bathroom
The building’s original concrete floor was retained and offset against natural clay walls and arched wooden door and window frames reminiscent of the art deco period.
“We wanted to add warmth to the concrete floor, so we designed the wooden Meranti doors with a reference in the arching detail to the 1930s when the property was built,” Boerma explained.
Standard Studio use skylights to funnel light into Amsterdam loft
The studio added industrial fixtures such as untreated wooden frames, a freestanding tin bath and sink in the en-suite, brushed and burnished copper tapware in the wet areas, and a kitchen island made from rolled steel with a quartzite benchtop.
Outside, the original hardware store signage on the building’s facade was left in place. In the summer, the wide double doors can be opened up and the pedestrianised street outside the apartment can be used as a terrace.
The kitchen features quartzite worktops
“The neighbourhood – made up of a few streets – is a very unique area in the city centre of Amsterdam,” explained Boerma. “It feels like a village, everybody knows each other and kids are playing together on the streets.”
Former inner-city garages can offer unique but sometimes awkwardly-shaped sites for development. In east London, architect Zoe Chan built Herringbone House on the non-linear site of a former car workshop, while in south London Tikari Works squeezed Pocket House into the space of a former garage, where the buildable area was only 35 square metres.
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Belgium-based Adjo Studio has used large wooden joinery elements to organise the interior of a penthouse apartment in Hasselt.Penthouse BV features a broken-plan layout, meaning that it is neither open-plan nor divided into rooms. Instead, a series of partitions and furniture elements help to subtly divide the space into different areas.
Spanning floor-to-ceiling and made from cheery wood veneer, these elements include bookshelves, kitchen cabinets and wardrobe closets.
Wooden joinery elements include a hearth that frames the lounge and library areas
The penthouse is the home of an entrepreneurial couple who relocated from the suburbs to the city centre.
Adjo Studio designers Adriana Strojek and Joachim Bekkers wanted to give the pair the same feelings of spaciousness and connection to nature that they had experienced in their previous residence, even though they are now five storeys up.
However, they also needed to create a practical home with separation between different functions. For instance, the couple needed a dedicated office so that work and home activities didn’t clash.
Made from cheery wood veneer, these elements have a warm tone
As Penthouse BV was originally open-plan, the designers had free rein to draw up a layout that met both of these requirements.
The apartment is also positioned at the centre of a roof terrace, with glazed walls wrapping most of the exterior, so it was easy to create light-filled spaces facing planted terraces.
The joinery is set back from the glazed walls of the penthouse
“The couple wanted to preserve the qualities of living in a house with a garden, so the brief required a spacious, open plan with as much natural light incidence as possible,” said Strojek and Bekkers.
“This request triggered us to locate the circulation space on the perimeter of the penthouse, to strengthen the relation between the inside and the 360-degree private city garden,” they told Dezeen.
The kitchen island has an integrated dining area
The joinery elements not only organise spaces, but also create flexibility. One of the closets integrates a bathroom entrance, while another includes a sliding wall that allows the bedroom and office to become a single space.
Other furniture elements are just as grand in ambition, like the combined kitchen island and dining table, or the full-height hearth that frames the lounge and library areas.
A simple colour scheme brings together shades of grey, brown and beige
The designers chose a sophisticated palette of materials and colours for the interior, with shades of grey, brown and beige. The aim was to provide a “cheerful yet restful environment”.
Apartment on the Belgian coast balances natural and industrial materials
The grey Italian limestone that clads the walls surrounding the terrace was one source of inspiration. Natural stone features throughout the home, with subtle beige tones in the living spaces and a more decorative finish in the bathrooms.
Bathrooms are finished in polished grey limestone
Furnishings bring together classic designs of the past and present, with highlights including an Eames Lounge Chair and the Lumina DOT pendant light by Foster + Partners.
Other details reveal the owners’ tastes. A pair of armchairs in the living room are coloured in a favourite red ochre shade, as are various other objects dotted through the spaces.
A sliding wall allows the bedroom and office to become a single space
“The details are kept simple in aim to reach minimalist objectivity, stripping away the layers of ornaments to create clean perspectives and frame the outside,” added the designers.
Other recent residential projects in Belgium include an apartment on the Belgian coast with seaweed-coloured joinery and a Ghent penthouse organised around three blocks of furniture.
Photography is by Renaat Nijs.
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Multidisciplinary design practice Lim + Lu has refurbished the interior of this 167-square-metre apartment in metropolitan Hong Kong to make it feel like an “elegant yet quaint summer home”.Designed for a nature-loving Japanese and British couple with two children, the interior has subtle, neutral colours and finishes that are intended to place focus on the greenery that fills the space.
Top image: the apartment was outfitted with a home office. Above: Calacatta marble features on the kitchen island and work surfaces
Located on the first floor of a 1950s building, the apartment’s windows are perfectly in line with the palm trees that surround it. To enhance this connection to the outdoors, Lim + Lu replaced all of the existing, small windows with larger aged-steel windows that bring in more natural light and make the space feel larger.
Lim + Lu uses brightly coloured walls and furnishings for fashion designer’s Hong Kong home
“The black wooden blinds and delicate brass details accentuate the feeling of an elegant yet quaint summer home,” said the Hong Kong-based studio, which is headed by Vincent Lim and Elaine Lu.
“Altogether, these elements work in tandem, ensuring the family residing within can live not only in understated luxury but at one with nature as well.”
The living room opens up onto the balcony via an aged-steel doorway
The designers wanted to create an open-plan layout in the apartment’s social areas, so that movement between the kitchen, dining, living room, study and balcony flowed easily.
In order to do this, the original enclosed kitchen was opened up and combined with the living room, creating a large open area for family gatherings. A large balcony doorway frames the view across the surrounding greenery.
Shelving is built into the oak wall panelling in the home office
Oak slats are used to line walls and rattan screens feature on built-in storage to add texture and warmth to the otherwise white interior.
The apartment includes a home office with a long, L-shaped Calacatta marble desk, which sits below built-in timber shelving with brass accents. Conceived as a tranquil retreat, the workspace is located in the brightest corner of the apartment with tall windows across two walls.
The workspace is anchored by a Calacatta marble desk
The studio designed the space to have plenty of light and added an abundance of potted plants to create a productive working environment.
“A challenge that is becoming more prominent in today’s society is that of the home office and how to integrate it into a living space to make it both comfortable yet productive. The clients often work from home, therefore an effective design for this space was crucial,” said Lim +Lu.
“The tall windows and brass accents do away with the modern interpretation of a study and instead provide an atmosphere that encourages creativity and a positive work mentality,” the studio continued.
“An abundance of daylight, neutral colours and wood adorn the room and balance the visual elements together, just as one needs to do between work and relaxation.”
In the children’s bedroom, shelving is built into green cabin beds
The children’s room features a set of green cabin beds with built-in shelving and storage.
“The idea was to incorporate a sense of privacy in an open space without the isolation of separate spaces to foster a sense of togetherness,” said the design team.
The bathroom features a granite soaking tub
The children’s room also has its own ensuite bathroom that recalls the layout of a traditional Japanese wet room. Lined in acid-washed granite, the room features a deep soaking tub and a separate shower space that can be used for relaxation and cleansing.
Following the pandemic, the home office is increasingly becoming an area of focus in the home. Dezeen has highlighted eight inspiring home office designs, including one that’s lined entirely with plywood and another that’s hidden inside an artichoke-shaped room.
Photography is by Lit Ma.
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Architect Murray Barker and artist Esther Stewart worked together to retrofit this two-bedroom 1960s apartment in Melbourne’s Brunswick neighbourhood using colours and materials that pay homage to the original mid-century interior.When the current owners bought the walk-up apartment, it had been empty for 20 years and had its original decor including linoleum and carpet floors and salmon pink walls. The owners wanted to retain its character while updating the living spaces to suit modern life.
Built in 1961, the 65-square-metre apartment is split into two zones with a living space and kitchen at the front on either side of the entrance and two bedrooms on either side of a bathroom at the rear.
A skylight lets light into the kitchen
“The apartment’s layout was typical of many apartments of this typology, with a clear division between living and private spaces and with frontage on two sides,” Barker told Dezeen.
“We wanted to retain room divisions, but at the same time improve connections, extend sightlines and bring more natural light into the kitchen.”
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The apartment’s original large windows provided ample natural light and effective cross ventilation. The owners felt that the existing kitchen, however, felt disconnected from the living room as the space was too confined to accommodate a dining table and lacked adequate natural light.
To remedy this, Barker and Stewart reconfigured the plan to improve the connection between the living room and the kitchen.
The Pistacho-coloured kitchen has a terrazzo floor
The dividing walls between the two rooms were partially demolished and joinery elements were inserted to reorder circulation paths between the home’s central entrance, the reoriented kitchen and the living room.
“We expanded the use of integrated joinery, considered existing proportions and details, and the use of high quality, robust but interesting materials,” said Murray.
The interior of the cabinets is a rich terracotta colour
The new kitchen layout has an L-shaped plan that is open to the living area and anchored by a custom-made steel frame table with a Rosa Alicante marble top and fixed banquette seating.
Visible from the living room, a long kitchen countertop made from the same red marble as the table completes the L-shaped kitchen plan and incorporates a stove, oven and sink.
Red marble was used across the work- and tabletops
A skylight above the kitchen table lets sunlight into the space through thick glass roof tiles. The ceiling is insulated and the roof window is double-glazed to minimise additional heat gain and to retain winter warmth.
Murray and Stewart selected the pistachio green colour for the joinery in a nod to the original 1960s-era kitchen that it replaced. Details include visible framing around doors and drawers and custom finger pulls. Sliding-pocket doors reveal a hidden appliance area in the pantry to hold a toaster, kettle and coffee machine.
Barker and Stewart retained the apartment’s original 1960s bathroom
The apartment’s bathroom is the 1960s original and features speckled flooring, dusty pink tiles and baby blue sanitaryware.
“Each apartment in the block has a unique toilet, bath and sink set in contrasting colour palettes, in combination with unique terrazzo flooring in the bathroom,” Murray explained. “The interior materiality was specific and robust but enthusiastic and this was something we wished to explore and elaborate upon.”
The terrazzo floor tiles that are used across the rest of the apartment were salvaged excess stock from a larger project and were chosen to complement the original floors.
The apartment is housed in a typical red brick complex
“These buildings are visually robust, but there is beauty in the material nuance of the brown brick and subtle ornamentation through the considered design of ordinary things,” he continued. “The original interior aesthetic was far from white walls and plain tiles.”
Last year, London studio Archmongers renovated a duplex mid-century flat in one of the city’s most well-known housing estates, using shades of red, yellow and blue to complement the modernist material palette. Meanwhile in Rome, Italian architecture office La Macchina Studio renovated a 1950s apartment, revealing original terrazzo floors and adding bold colours.
Photography is by Benjamin Hosking.
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Italian studio Llabb has combined two apartments in Genoa, creating a quirky home that combines nautical references with contemporary art.Casa ai Bailucchi is the home of a young creative couple – one is a gallery owner and music lover, the other is a freelance graphic designer.
The L-shaped upper level contains the kitchen and living spaces
The two-level, 135-square-metre apartment is located on the upper levels of a building overlooking the port, so the design was heavily influenced by the huge machinery that can be seen occupying the waterside.
Locally based Llabb, led by designers Federico Robbiano and Luca Scardulla, planned the layout to take full advantage of the views and also peppered the interior with very subtle maritime references.
Nautical details are combined with vintage furniture and contemporary artworks
These references include a staircase with a rope handrail, a porthole window, and a colour palette featuring shades of blue and yellow.
Other details include a mix of custom-made and vintage furniture, decorative tiles, large plants and a variety of artworks from the clients’ personal collection.
The upper floor leads out to a 100-square-metre roof terrace
The starting point for the design was the addition of a staircase, connecting the two previously separate apartments. With four metres of height between the two floors, it was a challenge to fit this in.
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Robbiano and Scardulla’s solution was to create a staircase that winds up in several different sections. As well as the blue rope handrail, it features oak treads and a steel frame with open risers.
The nautical-inspired staircase features a rope handrail and a porthole window
“The result is pretty dynamic and allows the visitors to see the apartment from different views,” Scardulla told Dezeen.
“It guides you, almost like the stepping stones in Japanese gardens.”
The bedroom features plaster walls and terrazzo flooring
Both levels have their own character. The lower level is more compartmentalised, with two bedrooms, a study room, and a bathroom.
Original terrazzo floors have been preserved in these rooms. There are other nods to the building’s history too, for instance, the master bedroom features an arched window and exposed plaster walls.
Patterned tiles feature in both the bathroom and the kitchen
The upper level is mostly open-plan. The L-shaped floor plan naturally separates the lounge area from the dining space and kitchen, with the space further subdivided by cutaway walls.
“It was a big challenge to manage the long and narrow living space on the upper floor; the risk was to have a ‘corridor effect’,” said Robbiano.
“We used different layers of perceiving and living the space, making it more interesting to explore.”
Studio workspaces can be found on both floors
The apartment contains two work-from-home spaces. As well as the study room on the lower level, there is a “studiolo” on the upper floor, which the designers liken to the cockpit of a crane.
The living space also opens out to a 100-square-metre roof terrace, which the owners have filled with even more plants.
Photography is by Studio Campo.
Project credits
Design: LlabbDesign team: Luca Scardulla, Federico Robbiano, Linda Consiglieri, Laura Davite, Riccardo Gelmini, Martina Pisano, Floria BruzzoneConstruction: Zena CostruzioniCarpentry: Carlino SantoMetalwork: Metal ProjectTiles and sanitary ware: NobiliFlooring: Effebi parquet
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