Renovations

Subterms

    More stories

    • 125 Shares179 Views

      in Rooms

      No Architects completes “seamless” revamp of 1920s house in Prague

      by

      Czech studio No Architects has renovated and extended a 1920s villa in a Prague suburb, adding bespoke joinery and modern details that complement the original architecture.

      The studio headed by artist Daniela Baráčková and architect Jakub Filip Novák oversaw the modernisation of the property in the Smíchov district on the left bank of the Vltava river.
      The joinery on the ground floor was painted duck-egg blueThe extensive remodelling and extension aimed to retain the character of the house, which was built in the 1920s in a romantic style that references the steep-pitched roofs and brick cladding of arts and crafts-style English villas.

      No Architects removed all of the existing floors, ceilings and non-load-bearing walls of the semi-detached property and added a side extension to accommodate containing a ground-floor guest suite and a bedroom on the first floor.
      Bespoke joinery was added throughout the interiorThe extension utilises the same palette of clay roof tiles, painted brick and a pumice stone plinth in order to produce a timeless aesthetic that is in keeping with the original architecture.

      “Other contemporary extensions in this neighbourhood got very old very quickly and don’t fit in well anymore,” Jakub Filip Novák told Dezeen.
      “Our addition refers to the original facade details and is hardly recognisable as separate to the original house. The connection between the new and old parts is not just via design, but it seems seamless even by structure and same ageing of material.”
      The interior layout was reconfigured to modernise the villaThe revamped interior has a contemporary layout, with an open living and dining area linked to the adjacent kitchen. A new doorway in the rear elevation provides direct access from the kitchen to the garden.
      A custom-built unit next to the back door discreetly conceals a pantry and toilet, along with plenty of storage and space for the refrigerator.

      Butterfly House renovation contrasts traditional features with modern materials

      No Architects designed bespoke joinery added throughout the house to make optimal use of the available space and to create a sense of aesthetic consistency between the various rooms.
      “The living space consists of many details and we like to frame them because it helps connect plenty of technology and infrastructure which surround us in any house,” said Novák.
      “It’s also an economic decision,” he added, “because every square metre of living space in Prague is expensive so it is rational to use it sensibly. We see joinery as part of such thinking, uniting architecture, construction and technology.”
      Green woodwork adds a splash of colour to the staircaseSome of the interventions were painted in pastel shades that add a distinctive character to the spaces. The upper floor and staircase feature green woodwork, while the ground-floor joinery is painted a shade of duck-egg blue.
      The clients spent part of their lives working in Japan and the United Kingdom, so some of the colours and details reference these experiences.
      The decorative panelling and exposed radiators on the first floor recall traditional British houses, while the minimal bench seating in the living room and the tiled porch evoke Japanese living.
      The studio designed built-in seating in the living roomA small door on the first-floor landing provides access to a previously unused space above the entrance that now contains a private play area accessible only by the children.
      Throughout the project, No Architects adapted existing features to give them a new purpose or to enhance the character of the building while ensuring it meets the client’s requirements.
      The bespoke joinery was designed to optimise space in the home”We work with intuitive ‘memory of architecture’ and aesthetics which belongs to the original era but we don’t follow it directly,” Novák added, “we just use it to make a nice place that makes the most of the potential which is in the atmosphere of the house.”
      No Architects’ founders met while studying at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. The studio combines the disciplines of art and architecture to produce detailed-oriented solutions that reflect their clients’ requirements and personalities.
      The photography is by Studio Flusser.

      Read more: More

    • 163 Shares169 Views

      in Rooms

      Parramon + Tahull adds tiled floors and bespoke joinery to refurbished Barcelona apartment

      by

      Barcelona studio Parramon + Tahull has renovated a traditional apartment in the city’s Gracia neighbourhood, adding birch plywood joinery and ceramic tiling to complement the building’s original features.

      The apartment is home to a family of four, which has lived there for several years and wanted to carry out a significant overhaul of the outdated interior.
      Parramon + Tahull has renovated an apartment in BarcelonaThe clients asked local architects Lluís Parramon and Emma Tahull to oversee the transformation of the space to provide an open living area and kitchen, along with separate bedrooms for each of their two daughters.
      The apartment is located on the upper floor of a five-storey building dating from the 1900s. A previous renovation undertaken around 20 years ago had altered the layout and destroyed most of the original features.
      The studio added bespoke joinery including a small built-in deskParramon + Tahull began by removing all of the existing partition walls in order to create a brighter and more practical series of spaces within the compact floor plan.

      The rearranged interior also provides plenty of usable storage and restores some of the original details, including wooden beams that had been painted white by the previous owners.
      Terracotta tiles cover floors throughout the apartment”We wanted to bring natural light into all the spaces and to achieve a sense of flowing, continuous space despite the limited surface area,” Tahull told Dezeen.
      “We were interested in working with natural materials and returning some of the original spirit of the building to the apartment.”
      Bespoke joinery is also provides storage in the bedroomsDue to its small size, the architects paid close attention to the choice of materials and layout in order to create a serene, spacious feel.
      “To achieve all the client’s goals, we had to work on a very precise scale of detail, designing all of the furniture to measure in order to take advantage of every square centimetre,” Tahull explained.

      NeuronaLab reorganises Barcelona loft with blue stair storage unit

      The interior utilises a palette of predominantly natural materials, chosen to complement the wooden beams while providing an element of tonal and textural contrast.
      Parramon + Tahull chose ceramic tiles from Spanish manufacturer Wow to create a continuous flooring surface throughout the entire apartment, including the kitchen and bathroom.
      Glossy white tiles clad the walls in the bathroom”We were looking for a small-format tile so the feeling of space would be bigger,” Tahull added. “We also wanted to play with a tapestry-like colour scheme that included white, because white gives a great luminosity and echoes the white of other elements.”
      The white and terracotta-coloured tiles include different formats, textures and surface finishes ranging from glossy to matte.
      White grout is used for the floors throughout the rooms, while the bathroom walls are clad in white tiles with contrasting reddish grout.
      Reddish grout provides a visual contrastBespoke fitted cabinetry made from birch plywood provides practical storage in every room, as well as in the hallway. Along with the tiles, the wood forms a consistent element that unites the spaces.
      Lluís Parramon and Emma Tahull founded their studio in 1997. The office focuses on delivering comfortable, contextual and energy-efficient architectural projects for private and commercial clients.
      The photography is by Judith Casas Sayós.

      Read more: More

    • 138 Shares179 Views

      in Rooms

      Casa Olivar is a Madrid apartment designed as a “sensorial refuge”

      by

      Designers Matteo Ferrari and Carlota Gallo have transformed a traditional two-storey apartment in Madrid, Spain, into a tranquil home for themselves featuring a pared-back palette of natural materials and crafted details.

      Casa Olivar is located in a typical corrala – a type of apartment building found in the old parts of Madrid, where housing units are accessed from external covered corridors.
      Matteo Ferrari and Carlota Gallo have designed their own apartment in MadridThe apartment’s interior was in poor condition when Ferrari and Gallo purchased the property, and decided to convert it into a contemporary home.
      The design retains some of the building’s historical features while reorganising the compact interior to create a series of light and bright interconnected spaces.
      Its living room is flooded with light via two huge windowsFerrari and Gallo describe the apartment as a “non-urban place, a sensorial refuge to reconnect with ourselves, regulate our emotions and disconnect from the hustle and bustle of the outside world”.

      The couple used a pared-back material palette to create a warm and comfortable atmosphere, making the most of the daylight that enters the interior through two large windows in the living room.
      Arched openings separate the dining area from the living room”The intervention is characterised by a spatial continuity and a warm minimalism,” the duo explained. “It seeks to elevate natural light and encourage the use of local craft materials, generating a close dialogue between light and materiality.”
      A central partition dividing the dining area from the living room was altered by adding a pair of lowered arches that echo the proportions of the facade openings.
      Aluminium kitchen fronts provide a counterpoint to the muted colour paletteLight from the windows passes through the openings to reach the kitchen, while the bedroom downstairs receives indirect illumination from a pair of openings in the floor above.
      Throughout the interior, the designers chose to use simple and authentic materials, featuring predominantly earthy tones.
      “The approach is to be honest with the materials, respecting their authentic appearance and textures while prioritising natural resources and local craftsmanship,” Ferrari and Gallo explained.

      Vibrant glazed tiles divvy up Madrid apartment by Sierra + De La Higuera

      The apartment’s entrance opens directly into the kitchen and dining area, which is arranged around a sculptural table designed by the couple that features a textural Tadelakt plaster finish.
      Floors are covered with handmade terracotta tiles to create consistency between the spaces. The same tiles are used in the bathroom, with their varying dimensions giving each space a unique quality.
      The bedroom receives indirect illumination from openings in the floor aboveTables and display stands were created using stone salvaged during the renovation process, while the kitchen’s aluminium storage units provide a contemporary counterpoint to the natural tones and textures.
      Gallo designed the textiles used within the apartment to add texture and dynamism to the spaces. These include a draped nylon curtain that echoes the warm tones used in the bathroom.
      Draped nylon fabric acts as a shower curtain in the bathroomOther works of art and craft bring personality to the apartment, such as the washbasin made by designer María Lázaro and a hammock woven in Colombia using traditional techniques.
      Ferrari moved from Italy to Madrid in 2008 after completing his architecture studies at the University of Ferrara. He founded his own studio in 2015, which focuses on using simple gestures to create timeless and familiar spaces.
      The photography is by Asier Rua.

      Read more: More

    • 150 Shares199 Views

      in Rooms

      Aurelien Chen retains references to China's “Red Era” in renovated cultural centre

      by

      Architect Aurelien Chen has transformed a former miners’ canteen in Handan, China, into a multipurpose cultural centre featuring interventions that respond to the building’s communist heritage.

      The canteen was built in the 1970s to serve workers at the Jinxing coal mine in China’s Hebei Province.
      It is surrounded by office buildings dating back to 1912 that were built by German architects and feature a distinctly Western aesthetic.
      The canteen was built to serve coal mine workersThe local government engaged China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) to oversee the sustainable renovation of the site, with Beijing-based Chen asked to head up the design team.
      The site is designated as a tourist destination with a focus on representing China’s evolution during the “Red Era”, beginning with the founding of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in 1921 and culminating in the Cultural Revolution that took place from 1966-1976.

      Following a historical survey of the site, it was determined that the early 20th-century buildings should be restored to their original condition.
      It was renovated and refurbished by CSCEC and Aurelien ChenChen told Dezeen that he felt the canteen building should also be preserved as it complements the masterplan and style of the earlier structures.
      He explained that the brief for the refurbishment was to emphasise and recreate architectural elements that had been lost over time or were in need of significant restoration.
      The interior was developed around existing historical features”Instead of recreating a fake Red Era atmosphere, I preferred to keep the few historical traces that already existed within the building,” said Chen.
      “I developed the design and the space around them, attempting to subtly evoke the colours, materials and furniture of that time.”
      Vaults in the building were preservedOne of the most significant interventions is a flower-shaped, multipurpose furniture element located at the centre of the main hall.
      The outline of this space, which can be used as an information desk, exhibition space, stage or relaxation area, evokes a typical Red Era pattern that was painted on the original ceiling.

      Wutopia Lab completes museum and dance studio influenced by Chinese ink drawings

      Other furniture in the versatile central hall includes wave-shaped benches and circular reading booths that are intended to provide a sense of fluidity and flexibility of use.
      The circular reading spaces are inspired by the hall’s original ceiling lights and incorporate integrated bookshelves to minimise their visual impact on the space.
      A flower-shaped multipurpose furniture piece sits in the middleExisting dilapidated internal walls were retained and became key features within the renovated spaces. A linear partition wall that was once the canteen’s serving counter was transformed into a reading desk with lamps and high stools.
      The bar area is located in a corner of the space and flanked by a concrete wall displaying Communist slogans painted in Chinese characters.
      The canteen serving counter is now a reading deskChen wanted to incorporate arches into the design to echo details found on a neighbouring historic building. This was achieved by adding a row of booths with arched canopies to the restaurant area.
      The booths also reference arched brick openings uncovered during the renovation process, as well as stone vaults discovered in the basement.
      A glass floor connects the vaults with the public areas aboveThe vaults were preserved in their original state, with minimal interventions helping to transform them into reading corners and exhibition areas. A glass floor maintains a visual connection between these spaces and the public areas above.
      Stairs leading to the basement were moved into an arch-shaped, metal-clad volume added to the facade. The external window openings were reshaped into arches that reference details found on the historic buildings nearby.
      Booths were given miniature arches in a nod to surrounding buildingsChen explained that, although the number of significant heritage details within the building were limited, each one was carefully restored and used as the basis for additions that enhance the link to the past.
      “I would say that new interventions tend to blend with the existing conditions, sometimes in a very immaterial way,” the architect added. “Their shape and space derive directly from original elements, revealing them; the materials, however, are more in contrast.”
      The interior also features undulating seatingOther recent cultural and leisure projects in China include a visitor centre with spiralling tiled roofs and the country’s biggest library, which was designed by Danish studio Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects.

      Read more: More

    • 150 Shares169 Views

      in Rooms

      OHLAB celebrates historical details at Can Santacilia apartments in Palma de Mallorca

      by

      Architecture office OHLAB has renovated a historical apartment building in Palma de Mallorca introducing contemporary elements including a meandering wooden walkway that contrast with the original features.

      Can Santacilia is a 3,300-square-metre residential development containing 15 apartments and common areas distributed across two adjoining buildings in the heart of Palma de Mallorca’s old town.
      A main central courtyard is included at Can SantaciliaParts of the existing building appear to date back as far as the 12th or 13th century, although the main building as it stands was erected in the 17th century and was subsequently modified in the 18th and 20th centuries.
      Local architecture and design office OHLAB was tasked with overseeing a modernisation project involving repairs to the existing structure, as well as the sensitive restoration of key original features including the main central courtyard.
      OHLAB oversaw a sensitive restoration process”The building was abandoned and in a really bad shape with some parts about to collapse, while the best parts did not meet the most basic living conditions,” OHLAB directors Paloma Hernaiz and Jaime Oliver told Dezeen.

      A carefully conducted restoration process placed emphasis on maintaining the historical integrity of the building whilst adapting it to meet the needs of its new occupants.
      A wooden coffered ceiling was uncovered during the renovation”We had to do a thorough and intensive renovation of the whole building,” the OHLAB architects explained.
      “The distribution was changed and reorganised, new partition walls and layouts were added to accommodate the housing proposal and new installations were required to adapt the apartments to contemporary comfort and energy-efficient standards.”
      An indoor pool is framed by arched openingsThe project preserves the original features that make the building unique, such as the wrought-iron balustrades, stone columns, traditional courtyard and a wooden coffered ceiling that was uncovered during the restoration.
      The courtyard was enclosed in the 20th century, with blank walls used to conceal a parking area. Based on other traditional buildings in the city, the architecture studio restored this space to how it might have looked in the early Baroque period.
      The courtyard’s typical staircase and porched gallery were retained and two arched openings were added – one alongside a new indoor pool and the other in front of the entrance, supported by a pair of ionic columns.
      A meandering wooden walkway contrasts with the original featuresInternally, the common areas of the two buildings are connected by a wooden walkway that mitigates a height difference of approximately 90 centimetres.
      The studio said the walkway was designed to take users on a journey, “as if discovering an archaeological ruin”, leading them past some of the building’s key historic features, including a fireplace, a stone arch, a tiled floor and ornate plaster mouldings on the ceiling.
      The same light oak forms a staircase elsewhereArchitectural interventions were implemented using a material palette that clearly separates them from the existing structure. The walkway was made from light oak that was also used for other circulation areas including a staircase and the lift interiors.
      “We added pieces that are always clearly new and contemporary,” explained Hernaiz and Oliver, “with shapes and materials that in no case want to imitate or hide the ancient ones.”
      Sculptural mirrored boxes act as partitions in the apartmentsThe contrast between old and new is also evident in the apartments, some of which feature modern mirrored volumes used to partition the existing spaces whilst maintaining their overall proportions.
      The mirrored boxes never reach all the way to the ceilings, ensuring the original wood-beam construction or decorative mouldings remain visible and uninterrupted.
      Wooden beams and decorative ceilings are left uninterrupted”The mirror box disappears in its reflection, giving back the space stolen by its presence and returning a complete image of the room,” the OHLAB architects added.
      “Only when you get closer, do you realise it’s a contemporary partition that lets you enter into another space, made of stone.”
      High-quality fixtures give the apartments a premium feelOne of the most surprising discoveries made while stripping back the dilapidated interiors was an ornate medieval ceiling made from painted wooden beams and coffers, supported by a central stone pillar.
      OHLAB claimed that this find prompted the redesign of 40 per cent of the total project, including six of the 15 apartments, in order to persevere the integrity of the coffered ceiling and incorporate it into one of the living spaces.
      The palette used throughout the public and private spaces favours natural, local materials chosen to emphasise the building’s history and Mediterranean character.

      White cut-out panels create displays at Miami boutique by OHLAB

      Stone and timber structural elements was combined with plaster and wood mouldings, mortar and lime coatings and floors in ceramic and wood finishes.
      High-quality fixtures and details in local stone, bronze, porcelain and textiles including local linen and cotton enhance the premium feel across the interior spaces.
      A palette of natural, local materials permeates throughoutHernaiz and Oliver originally founded OHLAB in Shanghai in 2007 before moving to Madrid and eventually settling in Palma de Mallorca, where they head up a team of 18 architects, interior designers and engineers.
      OHLAB’s previous projects include an apartment block in Palma de Mallorca covered with thin wooden slats that shade the interiors, and a standalone villa at a hotel on the island with a window designed to frame a panoramic view of the landscape.
      The photography is by José Hevia. 

      Read more: More

    • 100 Shares99 Views

      in Rooms

      London apartment features fish and chip shop-informed kitchen

      by

      A steel kitchen that references London’s many fast food shops takes centre stage in this apartment designed by local studio Holloway Li for its co-founder Alex Holloway, which also has a bathtub in the living room.

      Located in north London’s Highbury, the apartment is set in a converted Victorian house and was renovated to create a home-cum-photography-studio for Holloway and his partner Elle Parmar Jenkins, founder of vintage furniture store Goods In.
      The apartment includes a custom-built stainless steel kitchenHolloway Li sought to update the single-storey space while also maintaining many of its original features.
      Part of this process included removing the master bedroom entirely to create an open-plan living space from what were originally separate rooms, and adding two extra windows to illuminate this interior.
      Holloway Li looked to local fast-food shops to create this design”We exposed and retained the original timber verge beam keeping all the screws and not cleaning it up at all,” said Holloway, who founded the studio with Na Li in 2018.

      “We wanted to express the formation of the external butterfly roof internally by opening up the ceilings to show the vaulted geometry internally,” he told Dezeen.
      This triple-aspect living space contains a striking kitchen clad in circle-brushed stainless steel with a curved splashback that takes cues from the kebab and fish and chip shops that Holloway grew up surrounded by in London, according to the designer.
      Pink and orange accents feature throughout”A lot of our studio work often fuses aspects of what people might consider ‘low culture’ with a more high-brow aesthetic,” said Holloway, who explained that the kitchen was not created as a parody, but rather intends to honour the materials found in fast food outlets.
      “This is what London is – a mix of high and low always across the road from one another. It’s part of what makes it interesting, and having grown up here it was important to add those vernacular visual flavours into the space,” he added.
      “Also, I hadn’t seen that material [circle-brushed steel] used in a domestic setting before so I knew it would be unique.”
      A bathtub was inserted into the living spaceThe studio chose a neutral colour palette interrupted with pops of vibrant colours such as orange and blue, which was led by the rosy-hued exposed plaster walls that frame the space.
      Breaking with tradition, Holloway decided to insert a bathtub into the living space where the master bedroom used to be to make use of its panoramic natural light and to add an alternative touch to the apartment.
      The same resin used to create the dining table top is found in the bathroomIt is positioned next to a bespoke timber Holloway Li desk and a vintage Eames office chair that Parmar Jenkins uses when she works from home, while light-hued Douglas fir flooring and chunky geometric sconce lights add to the warm interior.
      Other furniture pieces by the studio include a chubby orange armchair that Holloway Li launched at this year’s London Design Festival in collaboration with Uma Objects as well as the dining table and a shower screen that were both formed from a gridded resin off-cut salvaged from a previous project.

      Ten self-designed homes by architects and designers

      Holloway’s favourite element of the apartment is “the windows and reflections,” he said. “It is very rare to have a room in a Victorian terrace that has windows on three out of four of its sides.”
      “The kitchen in turn – on the old side that doesn’t have a window – reflects the opposite windows so it actually feels like you are surrounded by light,” he added.
      Colours in the living space are also hinted at in the apartment’s one bedroomThis apartment is not the first of Holloway Li’s interior designs that intend to directly respond to their contexts.
      Previously, the studio dressed the Wunderlocke hotel in Munich in hues that nod to the paintings of the late Munich-based painter Wassily Kandinsky, while it designed bathroom brand Coalbrook’s showroom with industrial materials that echo the building’s original function as a tobacco-pipe factory.
      The photography is by Edmund Dabney. 

      Read more: More

    • 113 Shares109 Views

      in Rooms

      Butterfly House renovation contrasts traditional features with modern materials

      by

      British studio Will Gamble Architects has modernised a heritage-listed terraced house in south London, adding a series of bespoke joinery elements that help to repurpose the existing living spaces.

      Known under the nickname Butterfly House, the project involved the refurbishment and reconfiguration of a Grade II-listed home in Lambeth for a couple of lawyers and their two young children.
      Will Gamble Architects has renovated the interior of Butterfly House in LondonThe building, which dates back to the 1840s, was originally conceived as a four-storey family home. But it had previously been knocked through to a neighbouring property and separated vertically into flats before being returned to a single dwelling.
      Will Gamble Architects was asked to create a contemporary home that makes the most of the available space while retaining the features and character of the existing architecture.
      Micro-cement covers the chimney breast in the dining room”Despite its heritage listing, the building had been messed around with and many of the original features were ripped out,” project architect Miles Kelsey told Dezeen.

      “We were required to preserve the proportions of any rooms that hadn’t changed too much and focused on identifying the minimal permissible alterations that could have the biggest spatial impact.”
      A built-in bench provides seating in the dining areaThe scheme returns Butterfly House to its original interior layout, with the kitchen and dining area on the ground floor, living spaces on the first floor and the bedrooms above.
      In order to adapt the existing floor plan to meet the clients’ needs, the architects repositioned some of the internal openings and introduced joinery elements with built-in doorways and storage.
      The original fireplace in the kitchen was retained”Because we were restricted in what we could do with a listed building, the bespoke joinery allowed us to maximise the potential of each space,” Kelsey added.
      “The joinery also enabled us to create a really clear and coherent design aesthetic throughout the project that responds to the clients’ request for natural and honest materials.”
      A white-painted stairway leads to the upper floorsA restrained, pared-back material palette is applied throughout the interior, with the oak joinery complemented by surfaces of micro-cement and stone.
      The neighbouring property was used as a reference for reinstating original features including the architraves and skirting, which stand out thanks to the sober treatment of the modern additions.

      Will Gamble Architects adds glass-walled extension to Pergola House in Leicestershire

      “Our idea was that the traditional decorative details should sit alongside more contemporary elements like the joinery to create a strong contrast between old and new,” said Kelsey.
      “We didn’t want to overly embellish the contemporary elements in order to maintain a sense of coherence across the whole project.”
      Light permeates the living room via its refurbished French doorsThe kitchen and dining room on the ground floor are linked by a large oak-framed opening that allows a view through the house towards the windows on the other side.
      A chimney breast in the dining room was reinstated and covered with a pale-grey micro-cement finish that is echoed in the dining table.
      Built-in storage on the other side of the room conceals a new doorBuilt-in cabinetry on either side of the chimney provides practical storage while a bench positioned along the opposite wall offers seating for the dining table.
      The living room on the first floor contains large refurbished French doors on one side and a newly instated door on the other side, set within a full-height storage element.
      The home’s custom joinery is made from warm oak woodThe pared-back material palette extends to the bedrooms on the two upper floors, where the oak joinery is used to create storage, headboards and partition walls such as the one separating the main bedroom from its en suite bathroom.
      Butterfly House takes its name from the typical roof form that tops the terraced property. It also references the bowed floors and ceilings uncovered during the renovation, which were remediated as part of the project.
      Wood also features in the bathrooms of Butterfly HouseWill Gamble founded his eponymous architecture and interiors studio in 2018. Based in Barnes, London, the firms works on commercial and residential projects, often involving the adaptation of historic structures for modern use.
      The practice was longlisted for emerging architecture studio of the year at the 2022 Dezeen Awards.
      Its previously completed projects include a glass-walled extension to a Georgian red-brick house and the transformation of a ruined 17-century parchment factory into a contemporary residence.
      The photography is by Nick Dearden.

      Read more: More

    • 113 Shares139 Views

      in Rooms

      Wabi-sabi philosophy leads revamp of Palau apartment in Barcelona

      by

      Local studio Colombo and Serboli Architecture has completed a clean and contemporary renovation of an apartment in Barcelona, spotlighting some of its “imperfect” original features.

      The Palau apartment is situated a stone’s throw from the city’s Palau de la Música concert hall and backs onto a cluster of secluded courtyards.
      Colombo and Serboli Architecture has completed the Palau apartment in BarcelonaIts owner, an Italian fashion designer, had initially asked Colombo and Serboli Architecture to upgrade only the bathroom and closet storage. But the practice suggested carrying out a more extensive renovation that indulged the apartment’s lofty proportions.
      The practice also wanted to place greater emphasis on the home’s existing quirks in the spirit of wabi-sabi – the Japanese philosophy that celebrates the beauty of imperfections and the changes that come with the passage of time.
      The hallway still boasts the apartment’s original stucco walls”We decided to face the project through a wabi-sabi approach that could easily incorporate original features and imperfections while retaining the charm of the apartment,” the studio explained.

      “Shapes are kept simple and bold with recurring basic forms – squares, circles, spheres – while sturdy solid surfaces were used to combine the monumental language of existing elements.”
      Hollow steps in the new staircase hold cooking paraphernaliaThe apartment is entered via a narrow hallway, where the practice left much of the original stucco walls exposed to reveal “layers of history”.
      At the heart of the floor plan is a new multi-part staircase. It begins with a few suspended steps crafted from pale timber, followed by a micro-cement landing and a couple more timber steps.
      White cabinetry was installed in the kitchenThe bottom block of steps is painted white and dog-legs around the wall to form a planted backrest for a white boucle sofa.
      This small sitting area is dressed with a spherical paper lamp and a glass coffee table supported by terracotta orbs. Another large weathered patch of the apartment’s original stucco walls was preserved at the rear of the space.
      A 3.5-metre bookshelf towers over the living roomThe bottom section of the staircase also extends in the other direction to form a bench seat for the arched travertine table in the dining area. Steps facing this part of the home were hollowed out to accommodate crockery, recipe books and cooking ingredients.
      Nearby, an all-white kitchen suite is finished with a porcelain countertop and backsplash. A bespoke boxy kitchen hood made from brushed steel was installed above the stove.

      Deep-blue cabinetry and coral-pink arches redefine Barcelona apartment

      Just opposite the apartment’s sitting area is a larger double-height living room, illuminated by a tall corner window.
      At its base, Colombo and Serboli Architecture created a chunky micro-cement platform where the owner can perch and take in views across the courtyards.
      On the opposite side of the room, a 3.5-metre-high gridded shelf provides space for the owner to display his ever-growing collection of books and art objects.
      The bedroom i up on the mezzanine levelThe bedroom can be found on the apartment’s mezzanine level. One side of the room is taken over by a closet, which the studio fronted with wicker doors to turn it into a “warm monolith”.
      LED lighting fitted on top of the storage draws attention to the apartment’s time-worn wooden ceiling beams.
      Wicker doors front the lengthy closetOne door of the closet has a diagonal cut-out that functions as a handrail for the stairs, while another can be pulled back to reveal a small nook containing a mirror and washbasin.
      A third door hides the apartment’s bathroom, which is clad entirely in iridescent mother-of-pearl tiles.
      “We played with different finishes, from glossy to rough, against the otherwise neutral palette,” explained the practice.
      The bed’s wicker headboard doubles as a balustrade for the mezzanineThe same wicker used for the closet was wrapped around the bed’s headboard, which doubles as a balustrade for the mezzanine. Surrounding the headboard is a thick wooden ledge that forms two bedside tables.
      The space was otherwise modestly decorated with a vintage orange leather chair and a wobbly-edged mirror.
      The bathroom is concealed behind a closet doorColombo and Serboli Architecture, which is run by Italian architects Matteo Colombo and Andrea Serboli, has revamped a number of homes around Barcelona in recent years.
      Among them is the Klinker Apartment, which features brightly-coloured paintwork, and the Font 6 flat where a porthole window peeps through from the kitchen to the bathroom.
      The photography is by Roberto Ruiz.
      Project credits:
      Architecture: Colombo and Serboli ArchitectureStyling and art direction: CaSA

      Read more: More