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      Valentino Architects transforms Malta art studio into modern home

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      Valentino Architects has converted the studio and home of late post-war painter Frank Portelli in Malta into a contemporary residence for his granddaughter.

      The home, named La Serenissima, is located in the village of Attard in the centre of the Mediterranean island.
      La Serenissima now features an open-air sun terracePortelli, who is known for his cubist artworks and murals, originally designed the house in 1995 and incorporated numerous windows and skylights throughout the building so that it could serve as the ideal place to paint and live.
      Local practice Valentino Architects was tasked with transforming the existing structure into a home for the artist’s granddaughter, starting with adding a raised sun deck to the southernmost point of the house.
      Adjacent to the terrace is a modern kitchen with black cabinetryThis was achieved by removing the glazing from a number of the angled skylights and adding timber decking, creating a kind of open-air terrace that is separated from the interior using sliding glass doors.

      A short flight of wooden steps doubles up as seats and leads down into the kitchen, which features jet-black cabinetry and a large open-fronted island for storing tableware.
      The study is finished with petroleum green wallsJust across from the kitchen is a dining area. Here, Valentino Architects preserved one of Portelli’s original plywood mood boards, with some of his hand-written annotations and markings still intact.
      On the east-west axis of the home lies a small indoor courtyard and a blue-painted study surrounded by pointed archways.
      Geometric tiles nod to Portelli’s cubist paintingsMost of the mid-century furnishings and light fixtures featured in this space were Portelli’s own, before being carefully restored by Valentino Architects.
      The floor was also inlaid with geometric tiles in reference to the cubic shapes that frequently appear throughout the artist’s paintings.
      The bedroom and bathroom are tucked behind sliding doorsOn the northern end of the home is a huge gridded window that extends outwards from the building and then tapers to a point. To one side of the window lies a bedroom and to the other a white-tiled bathroom.
      Both spaces are closed off by sliding doors, punctuated with cut-out handles that nod to La Serenissima’s diamond-shaped window.
      At the northern end of the home is a huge pointed windowValentino Architects was established in 2015 and is based in Malta’s capital Valletta.
      Other striking homes on the tiny Mediterranean island include Casa B with its glass-bottomed rooftop pool and The Coach House by AP Valletta, which features a “woven” stone facade.
      The photography is by Ramon Portelli.

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      Neil Dusheiko transforms London fashion showroom into light-filled home

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      Architect Neil Dusheiko has converted a showroom in west London into a bright, contemporary residence designed to meet the changing needs of its elderly owners.

      Nicknamed Danish Mews House for its minimalist Scandinavian furnishings, the home is tucked away in a quiet mews lane in the Lancaster Gate area.
      The mews house was once a showroom for the owner’s fashion companyAlthough in recent years the current owners repurposed the building as a showroom and warehouse for their clothing company, it was originally built as a Georgian coach house for storing horse-drawn carriages.
      Dusheiko’s primary concerns when converting the property into a home were bringing in more light, as well as making sure that the interior could support its inhabitants as they grow older.
      The main kitchen and sitting room are on the first floorFor this purpose, the house was fitted with a guest bedroom, kitchenette and toilet on the ground floor, which could ultimately be used by the inhabitants themselves in case their mobility becomes restricted.

      A lift was installed to provide easy access to the upper floors of the house, which can also be reached via a central staircase.
      Glazing in the stairwell brings light into the living spacesIn the stairwell, a newly installed skylight and a wall of gridded glazing on the first-floor landing allow sunlight to seep into the interior.
      Behind the glass partition lies a sitting room and a kitchen with oatmeal-coloured cabinetry as well as a small dining area.
      Light leaks in from a skylight at the top of the stairwell. Photo by Rachael SmithBoth here and throughout the rest of the home, several of the furnishings were sourced from well-known Danish design brands including Carl Hansen, Louis Poulsen and Montana.
      The second floor is illuminated by six new dormer windows and accommodates another two bedrooms plus their respective en-suite bathrooms.

      Neil Dusheiko creates home for his father-in-law featuring a wall of ceramics and glassware

      The principal bedroom is largely clad in wood, save for a section on the rear wall that is finished in chintzy floral wallpaper.
      Glazed doors with black metal frames run along one side of the room and can be slid open to access a sun terrace lined in Douglas fir battens.
      Floral wallpaper features in the principal bedroom. Photo by Rachael SmithThe space is decorated with a couple of folding director’s chairs and a built-in white-brick planter.
      Danish Mews House is one of several residential projects that Neil Dusheiko has completed in London.
      The room also has its own sun terrace. Photo by Rachael SmithPreviously, the architect created a home for his father-in-law in Stoke Newington, in which a striking wall of shelving is used to display ceramics and glassware.
      Dusheiko also overhauled a home in Hammersmith, introducing a curved brick extension and a cinema room.
      The photography is by Ståle Eriksen unless stated otherwise.
      Project credits:
      Architect: Neil Dusheiko ArchitectsStructural engineer: Price and MyersContractor: ABC LimitedQuantity surveyor: White and Lloyd

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      Barde + vanVoltt transforms dingy Amsterdam garage into family home

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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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      Old gymnasium transformed into lofty apartment in Amsterdam

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      Wooden detailing and black-painted steel fill the lofty interiors of The Gymnasium apartment that Robbert De Goede has built within an old sports hall in the Netherlands.Located near the centre of Amsterdam, the adaptive reuse project was developed by local studio Robbert De Goede as an unconventional yet homely dwelling for a family of four.
      The Gymnasium is shortlisted for apartment interior of the year at the Dezeen Awards and was the winner of the Dezeen Awards 2020 public vote for the same category.

      The Gymnasium is built within an old sports hall

      “The objective was to design an intimate, liveable home,” said Robbert De Goede.
      “This resulted in a minimal, industrial approach towards the architecture and a very personal approach towards the finishes, which reflects the clients as well – the owner of a fashion brand and a paediatrician,” the studio explained.
      “They are a very down to earth family, which resulted in a very spacious and luxurious home, but definitely not a showroom for design props.”

      The apartment’s living spaces are at ground level
      The Gymnasium’s main living areas are contained on the ground floor, while a new mezzanine level inserted around the gymnasium’s perimeter hosts the bedrooms and bathrooms.
      A basement, which formed part of the original building, contains a gym and a sauna, alongside the dwelling’s technical equipment.

      Steel window frames have been added to complement the existing structure
      The basement was originally only 1.2 metres in height, so to ensure its usability, the studio raised its ceiling – creating a cosy, elevated living room above it at ground level.
      This living area is accessed by a bleacher-like staircase and is intended to offer the family a secluded, intimate seating area, reading space or home cinema.

      An elevated sitting area is positioned above an existing basement
      The only original element of The Gymansium that was retained was its existing steel structure, which was initially hidden behind a flat ceiling.
      This ceiling was removed as part of the construction process to create the apartment’s loft-like atmosphere and also introduce 10 skylights that maximise the light inside.

      Old Spanish workshop converted into tactile family home by Nomos

      To complement The Gymansium’s existing structure, Robbert De Goede designed the new mezzanine level with a matching black-painted steel structure.
      This is left exposed throughout, and paired with a black staircase and window frames.

      Wooden details and furnishings are used to warm the apartment
      Another key addition of the apartment is its new foundation, which features 18-metre-long piles that contain a heat-exchanging system to help heat and cool the dwelling.
      Teamed with 44 rooftop solar panels that provide electricity, this heat-exchanging system is designed to reduce the dwelling’s carbon footprint.

      A black-painted staircase leads up to a new mezzanine level
      The interior finishes of The Gymnasium are characterised by a combination of different wood finishes and tactile furnishings.
      According to Robbert De Goede, this was to warm its industrial structure and create a “building you can touch, maybe even smell sometimes”.

      The mezzanine level contains the bedrooms and bathrooms
      Among the wooden details are chunky central columns, the rough countertop made from larch in the kitchen and unfinished oak on the underside of the mezzanine level.
      The smooth stair railings, which are made from yellow cedar, are modelled on the work of Japanese sculptor Shimpei Arima who uses cedar to create tactile sculptures that offer comfort to users.
      Each space is complete with sculptural lighting by the likes of Delta Light, Bocci and Tom Dixon, alongside furnishings ranging from one-off vintage pieces to statement furniture by Stella Works, Flexform and Lucie Koldova.

      A bathroom on The Gymnasium’s mezzanine level
      The Gymnasium is one of five dwellings shortlisted for apartment interior of the year at the Dezeen Awards 2020. This includes the La Nave apartment in Madrid that Nomos built within a former print shop and Coffey Architects’ overhaul of a Grade II-listed school classroom.
      Other recent adaptive reuse projects on Dezeen include Richard Parr Associates’ self-designed studio in a 19th-century barn in the Cotswolds and an old nylon factory that was converted into “cathedral-like” office space by HofmanDujardin and Schipper Bosch.
      Photography is by Marcel van der Burg.

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      Old Spanish workshop converted into tactile family home by Nomos

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      Tactile bricks and pinewood partitions decorate the La Nave apartment, which Nomos has slotted into the concrete shell of a disused workshop in Madrid, Spain.La Nave was developed by Nomos as a family home for two of its partners, Ophélie Herranz and Paul Galindo, who head up its Spanish office.
      The project has since been shortlisted for apartment interior of the year at Dezeen Awards 2020.

      Wood and brick partitions divide the old workshop’s concrete shell
      La Nave was originally used as a large, open-plan printshop arranged around a structural concrete grid measuring 34 metres in length and 10 metres in depth.

      Nomos’ intervention retains this structure but converts its open layout into a continuous loop of living areas, arranged around enclosed private rooms.

      The new partitions are positioned at angles to the outer walls
      “La Nave is the transformation of an industrial space into a place for life, which takes place as a continuous sequence, with very little difference between work and family leisure,” said the studio, which also has offices in Geneva and Lisbon.
      “La Nave’s plan escapes any typological definition. It results from the search for new spatialities required by existing constraints.”

      Bricks and wood were used to warm the existing concrete structure
      Nomos’ initial plan for the apartment was to position the enclosed spaces and wet areas on the rear wall – opposite to the only facade with windows.
      However, La Nave’s existing plumbing is attached to the central concrete columns, meaning the wet areas had to be placed centrally too.

      The bedrooms and bathrooms are enclosed by the new partitions
      To achieve this while ensuring natural light could enter the depths of the apartment, Nomos positioned the wet areas and enclosed rooms in line with the central columns, but at a 45-degree angle to the outer walls.
      They are divided into two parts and set back from windows, making space either side and in between to ensuring light from the windows can pass through.

      Glazed bricks line the wet areas and bathrooms
      “The typological strategy started from the search for the optimal location of the service spaces,” Herranz told Dezeen.
      “The wet cores had to reach the downspouts, attached to the central pillars, but we wanted to move them towards the back of the space, to offer more light to the living spaces. We rotated them 45 degrees and explored the potential of the diagonal.”

      Original beams and brickwork add warmth to pared-back Madrid apartment

      The layout creates a continuous loop of shared living spaces around the perimeter of the apartment, which are used for work, play and dining.
      “We never thought of creating a large, open, loft-like space, but rather a sequence of well-defined spaces, which would give rise to multiple situations,” Herranz added.

      Bedrooms are positioned through the centre of the apartment
      By setting the private living spaces away from the windows, Nomos also made space for a “winter garden” along the window wall.
      This area doubles as a thermal buffer – a space that separates living areas from the outside to reduce dependence on artificial heating and cooling.

      The “winter garden” doubles as a thermal buffer
      The predominant material throughout the renovation is glazed brick, finished in white and cobalt blue, teamed with a pinewood framework and MDF panels.
      The materials were chosen by Nomos to complement the existing concrete structure while providing the space with a warmer and more homely atmosphere.

      Patterns are made with glazed and unglazed bricks
      “The qualities of traditional materials provide comfort and reinforce the idea of home, of domesticity, in contrast to the surrounding industrial space,” said Herranz.
      “The glazed bricks provide a note of brightness and colour typical of a more ornamental language.”

      A loop of living spaces wraps the central rooms
      The bricks were used to build most of the partitions, with their glazed sides lining bathrooms and kitchen and the unglazed faces exposed in the living rooms.
      Their glazed and unglazed sides are also alternated in places to create patterns.

      A kitchen aligns with old workshop’s existing plumbing
      The majority of furniture in the space is bespoke, designed by Nomos from pine wood specifically for La Nave.
      This includes a low-lying, circular table and coffee table made from pine, and terrazzo detailing made with old flooring that was removed from the workshop.
      Other projects that are shortlisted for apartment interior of the year at Dezeen Awards 2020 a sea-facing residence in Jaffa by Pitsou Kedem and a two-storey dwelling by Coffey Architects that is covered in thousands of wooden blocks.
      Photography is by Luis Asin.

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