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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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      Green-painted sunroom with cathedral views features in renovated Toronto apartment

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      Canadian studio Odami has redesigned a 1980s apartment in Toronto with bold and rich features like dark quartzite, walnut and green walls. The project, called St Lawrence, involved renovating an apartment that was previously transformed from a parking garage in the 1980s, with finishes that Odami said had now become dull and outdated.

      Odami removed walls to open the kitchen to the skylight-topped dining room
      “[The apartment] came to us completely in its original state: popcorn ceiling; an enclosed and very dated kitchen; mirrored walls; and beige carpeted floors,” the local studio said. “With a new owner, the entire unit was in need of an extensive update.”
      Odami redesigned the 1400-square-foot (130-square-metre) apartment to make the most of two “very theatrical” elements: views of the Cathedral of St James and five level changes that are created by steps between the rooms.

      Dark walnut contrasts with quartzite in the kitchen

      “In general we were really looking for materials that were rich and had a lot of depth to them, which would create a sharp contrast with the white walls throughout,” studio co-founder Michael Norman Fohring told Dezeen.
      “The change of levels and the views make the space naturally very theatrical, and using dramatic material and colour juxtapositions sort of amplified this.”

      A ribbed, black quartzite fireplace features in the living room
      A green sunroom, whose decoration references the Cathedral of St James viewed through the window, is one of the standout spaces.
      “Pulling in the colours and shapes of the nearby Cathedral of St James, the room is painted completely in green, and fitted with a dramatic pendant,” said Odami.

      A black wooden table and chair furnish the space
      “With its warmth and depth this space marks a moment of calm and stillness, perched amidst the steady flow of the condo and the hectic city below,” it added.
      Walnut engineered hardwood flooring runs throughout the apartment and, aside from the sunroom, all the walls in the condo are painted bright white.

      A big window in the sunroom offers views of the Cathedral of St James
      In the kitchen, the studio removed a partial wall and existing cabinets so it could be entirely open to the adjoining, skylight-topped dining room. Particle board cabinets in the kitchen are covered with a dark walnut veneer with solid walnut handles, contrasting the Super White natural quartzite.

      Odami celebrates “earthly minimalism” at Sara restaurant in Toronto

      Walnut steps lead from the kitchen down into the living room. Rich, dark materials continue in the form of a ribbed fireplace made of a dark quartzite, called Diamante Nero, with a matching black wooden table and chair. Wooden logs are stacked in an inlet to the side of the fire.

      Steps lead from the living room down to two bedrooms
      Two bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms flank either side of the living room.
      The main bedroom suite was rearranged to include a walk-in wardrobe featuring white wardrobes with black handles. A skylight in the wardrobe floods natural light through a frosted glass wall into the bathroom.

      A translucent glass wall brings natural light into an en-suite bathroom
      Odami is an architectural, interior, and furniture design studio that Canadian designer Fohring founded in 2017 with Spanish architect Aránzazu González Bernardo.
      It has previously completed a restaurant in the city called Sara with curving plaster walls and designed a wood furniture collection made from one dying tree.
      Photography is by Kurtis Chen.

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    • 75 Shares159 Views

      Seven bedrooms with eye-catching statement walls

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      From graphic tilework to hand-painted wallpaper, architects and designers have found a myriad of ways to create striking surfaces in the bedroom. Here are seven standout examples.

      Duplex in NYC, USA, by Crosby Studios

      Crosby Studios founder Harry Nuriev and his partner Tyler Billinger combined white tilework with a gold-lame headboard to create a statement wall in the bedroom of their New York apartment.
      Nuriev and Billinger didn’t hold back when it came to designing the rest of the room, which boasts ultraviolet side tables and throw cushions, as well as a hand-shaped light.
      Find out more about Duplex in NYC ›

      Hygge Studio, Brazil, by Melina Romano
      Tan-coloured bricks that feature in the communal living spaces of this Sao Paulo apartment continue through to the bedroom to form a rustic feature wall, finished with a lengthy headboard upholstered in terracotta-red fabric.
      Interior designer Melina Romano explained that the warm medley of materials and colours are meant to channel a sense of hygge – a Danish term for a feeling of cosiness or contentment.
      Find out more about Hygge Studio ›

      Chelsea Pied-à-Terre, USA, by Stadt Architecture
      Gold paint seems to ooze down the painterly, deep-green statement wall that features in the bedroom of this New York apartment.
      The owners, who originally hail from southwest Canada, had wanted to bring the lush verdancy of the landscapes in their hometown into the apartment’s interior.
      “We couldn’t literally accommodate a green living wall into the living areas,” Stadt Architecture explained. “However, we reconsidered ‘landscape’ as a custom hand-painted wall covering.”
      Find out more about Chelsea Pied-à-Terre ›

      Apartment A, Belgium, by Atelier Dialect
      The unusual open-plan bedroom and bathroom inside this Antwerp apartment includes a statement wall clad in contrasting black and white subway tiles.
      It serves as a graphic backdrop to the room’s freestanding tub, wrapped in shiny panels of mirrored steel.
      Find out more about Apartment A ›

      Heat 360, Ukraine, by Azovskiy & Pahomova Architects
      Blotches of rust colour the dark slate-tile wall that extends across the back of this master bedroom, which is set inside a family home in Ukraine’s Dnipro region.
      The floor-to-ceiling windows that run along the front the bedroom act as another statement wall, providing uninterrupted views out towards the landscaped garden and a nearby river.
      Find out more about Heat 360 ›

      Shkrub, Ukraine, by Sergey Makhno
      Rows of rounded ceramic tiles create an almost scaly surface finish on the wall of the guest bedroom in architect Sergey Makhno’s family home.
      This is one of several statement walls Makhno has incorporated in the property – a plaster wall in his own master bedroom has been sculpted to resemble the craggy face of a cliff.
      Find out more about Shkrub ›

      Casa A12, Spain, by Lucas y Hernández-Gil
      A large cobalt-blue circle forms a simple but striking feature wall in the bedroom of this Madrid duplex apartment.
      This shade of blue and coral orange have been applied across the rest of the home in homage to the colours used in Number 14, a painting by 20th-century abstract artist Mark Rothko.
      Find out more about Casa A12 ›

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    • 163 Shares139 Views

      Agnieszka Owsiany Studio creates tranquil apartment in Poznań for couple working in medicine

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      The high-pressure medical jobs of the couple living in this Poznań apartment led Agnieszka Owsiany Studio to apply a calming mix of wood and pale marble throughout the interiors.Set inside a newly built residential block that overlooks a botanical garden, the Botaniczna Apartment is home to a surgeon and his wife who runs a medical clinic.

      Above: the living area. Top image: a wood-lined hallway leads to the apartment’s master bedroom
      The couple had purchased the 90-square-metre apartment as an empty shell but soon brought Agnieszka Owsiany Studio on board to develop the interiors.

      They requested that the studio compose a calming home environment where they could unwind at the end of their often stressful workdays.

      The couple’s personal trinkets can be displayed in a long walnut sideboard
      “My clients asked for a high quality, almost hotel-like space as they were in need of everyday comfort,” the studio’s founder, Agnieszka Owsiany, told Dezeen.
      “I really wanted to create something timeless, hence the idea to use the materials such as wood and travertine which age beautifully and hopefully won’t be replaced within many years,” she continued.
      “All the kinds of wood and stone I chose, they have these nice, soothing warm tones.”

      A black dining table contrast the neutral colours elsewhere in the room
      Wooden chevron flooring runs throughout the home’s open-plan living and dining room, at the centre of which sits a plump sofa upholstered in brown leather.
      A coffee table perches on a fluffy rug just in front. It runs alongside a four-metre-long walnut sideboard where the couple can tuck books and magazines, or display small ornaments.

      The kitchen boasts oak cabinetry and a travertine marble island
      The kitchen is placed in the corner of the room, finished with oak cabinetry. Slim slabs of creamy travertine marble have been used to make the splashback behind the stove and the breakfast island.

      Nadzieja restaurant in Poznań features understated Bauhaus-style interiors

      There’s additionally a console made from burl wood – specifically chosen by the studio for its distinctive grain pattern – and a jet-black dining table fashion from bogwood, which is meant to stand in stark contrast to the otherwise neutral shades in the room.

      Burl wood has been used to make a distinctive vanity desk in the bedroom
      A cosy, wood-panelled hallway leads to the apartment’s other rooms, which lie behind floor-to-ceiling doors.
      Agnieszka Owsiany Studio has continued using much the same material palette – for example, burl wood has been used to create a vanity desk in the master bedroom. Oak storage units feature in the adjacent walk-in-wardrobe, which is neatly obscured by a linen-curtain screen.

      Travertine marble also covers surfaces in the bathroom
      The same travertine marble that features in the kitchen has been used to line surfaces in the bathroom and to make the washbasins.
      In the home office, oak lines the back wall and a full-height gridded shelf.

      The home office includes a full-height oak shelving unit
      This isn’t the first project that Agnieszka Owsiany Studio has completed in the Polish city of Poznań.
      At the end of last year, the studio designed the interiors of restaurant Nadzieja, filling it with Bauhaus-inspired details like tubular steel-frame chairs and pale partition walls that echo the buildings seen in Tel Aviv’s White City.
      Photography is by Pion Studio.

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    • 138 Shares189 Views

      Sim-Plex Design Studio creates a four-bedroom smart home in Hong Kong

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      Voice-activated technology and space-saving furniture helped Sim-Plex Design Studio turn a two-bedroom home in Hong Kong into Smart Zendo, a four-bedroom apartment with hidden storage.Smart Zendo is in Hong Kong’s Coastal Skyline neighbourhood. The project has been shortlisted for Dezeen Awards 2020 in the small interior of the year category.

      A coffee table appears on voice command
      Sim-Plex Design Studio converted the home for a couple who often travel for work and needed room for multigenerational living.

      “Eric and Lory moved to Hong Kong from Taiwan many years ago and have a son,” said Sim-Plex founder Patrick Lam.

      Benches hide storage in the kitchen area
      “Eric needs to travel frequently throughout the country, and Lory is a flight attendant. The lack of time spent at home means they often need their grandmother to take care of the children,” added Lam.
      “Eric and Lory often talk about the scenery and homestay in Taiwan and how they missed them so much.”

      The apartment can now house four or five people
      Sim-Plex Design Studio aimed to recreate the feeling of their old home in Taiwan while building a flexible living space that could make the most of the 492-square-foot home.
      Wide windows make the most of the views and pale Maplewood floors and cabinets were chosen to create a calm and warm atmosphere.

      A screen unfolds to turn the living area into a private room
      The floor of the living room is a raised platform with trap door-style elements that lift to reveal hidden storage for children’s toys and other household necessities.
      A coffee table up rises up from the platform to create a sunken bench where the adults can sit and enjoy tea ceremonies.

      Toys can be stored in the raised platform floor
      Technology is everywhere in the apartment, but the interior designers deliberately made it less obvious, preferring a subtle approach rather than overtly futuristic placements.
      Smart homes should use technology to enhance the lives of busy city dwellers, not distract them, said Lam.

      A table rises up for sharing a tea ceremony
      Voice-activated technology allows the residents to open the curtains, turn on the lights, lock or unlock the door and even raise the table.
      Curtains, screens and the home security system are all controlled by apps and remotes, and plugs and wall sockets are all secreted away.

      Big windows frame the scenery
      “The integrated TV cabinet wall and the wooden floor platform are plain and warm, yet hide a large number of intelligent devices,” said Lam.
      “The design is also integrated into the traditional Feng Shui doctrine, to create a spiritual space where tradition and technology, people and scenery are combined.”

      A raised platform in the bedroom forms a desk chair
      Eric, in particular, is a keen practitioner of Feng Shui, so Sim-Plex Design Studio carefully oriented the living space according to this. Maplewood was chosen to represent the wood element of Feng Shui.

      Pets Playground apartment in Hong Kong is designed for couple, a parrot and a cat

      “Although the traditional Feng Shui aesthetics and smart technology seems to be contradictory, if applied properly, they also have their compatibility,” said Lam.

      Wood was chosen for its symbolism in Feng Shui
      The open plan kitchen and living room freed up the old kitchen room, which has been converted into a third bedroom for the family’s live-in maid.
      Sliding doors can screen off the living area from the kitchen to create an extra fourth bedroom for when the grandmother comes to stay.

      A makeup table folds out in the bedroom
      Space-saving furniture has been used throughout, including rounded benches that tuck under the dining table in the kitchen area. More storage is integrated into the base of the chairs and the slim drawers in the tabletop.
      In the child’s room, the platform-style bed doubles as a chair for sitting at a desk, while the master bedroom has a hidden makeup table and the bed can double as a stool for using it.

      Marble tiles clad the walls in the bathroom
      The bathroom, with its marble-tiled walls, was modelled on a boutique hotel aesthetic.
      Sim-Plex Design Studio was founded by Patrick Lam and specialises in small space solutions for Hong Kong residents.
      The studio recently designed an apartment in Yuen Long for a multigenerational family – and their pet cat and parrot.

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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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      Ten tranquil bathrooms with dark and soothing interiors

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      A charred-wood washroom and a monolithic, concrete bathtub feature in this roundup of 10 zen bathrooms that swap traditional white walls for dark, moody hues and tactile materials.

      Untitled House, UK, by Szczepaniak Astridge

      Smooth, dark, concrete characterises the walls and monolithic bathtub of this bathroom, which Szczepaniak Astridge designed as part of a house renovation in Camberwell, London.
      The bath is screened by stainless steel Crittal windows that enclose a void through the home and is teamed with a bespoke, polished stone sink. According to the studio, the aim was to design a “place to retreat to, to guiltlessly linger and hang out”.
      Find out more about Untitled House ›

      Pioneer Square Loft, USA, by Plum Design and Corey Kingston
      A washroom, shower, toilet and sauna are all enclosed in the dark, tactile boxes that wrap around the central open-plan living area of this apartment in Seattle, Washington.
      Accessed through frosted glass doors, the bathroom facilities have walls and ceilings lined with blackened wood, charred using the traditional Japanese technique called Shou Sugi Ban, while the floors are covered with dark cement tiles.
      Find out more about Pioneer Square Loft ›

      Villa Molli, Italy, by Lorenzo Guzzini
      A palette of serpentine stone, concrete and smokey, natural lime plaster gives rise to the atmospheric interiors of this bathroom in Villa Molli, a dwelling overlooking Lake Como in Sala Comacina.
      It forms part of one of the house’s large bedrooms, in an effort to challenge the traditional boxed-off design of bathrooms, and features large windows that frame views out to the lake.
      Find out more about Villa Molli ›

      Belgian Apartment, Belgium, by Carmine Van Der Linden and Thomas Geldof
      Deep seaweed-coloured walls enclose this apartment’s guest bathroom, which Carmine Van Der Linden and Thomas Geldof designed to emulate its calming, coastal setting.
      It is accessed through a green, wood-lined door and is teamed with dark-grey terrazzo flooring and a statement Gris Violet marble basin that has polished metal pipes.
      Find out more about Belgian Apartment ›

      Cloister House, Australia, by MORQ
      The shell of this Australian house is made from rammed-concrete, which has been left exposed in the bathroom and other interior spaces to create “a sense of refuge”.
      Its textured, brutalist aesthetic is softly lit by a small window at one end, and warmed by a brushed nickel tapware and a rough-sawn red hardwood ceiling, vanity and joinery.
      Find out more about Cloister House ›

      House 23, USA, by Vondalwig Architecture
      This bathroom takes its cues from Japanese interiors and was designed as part of Vondalwig Architecture’s overhaul of a 1960s house in Hudson Valley.
      It is animated by the speckled grey, stone tiles that line its walls and floor, which has been complemented by portions of Port Orford Cedar and a steep-sided, ofuro soaking tub at one end.
      Find out more about House 23 ›

      Screen House, Australia, by Carter Williamson Architects
      Carter Williamson Architects created the spa-like setting for the bathroom of Screen House by enveloping it from floor to ceiling with tactile black tiles.
      Interest is added with an asymmetric pitched roof, a wooden basin and window frames, and a bubble-liked pendant light that is suspended above the freestanding bathtub.
      Find out more about Screen House ›

      Sunken Bath, UK, by Studio 304
      This bathroom, added to a ground-floor flat in east London, features a large sunken bathtub that looks into a garden and invites residents to relax by engaging in Japanese ritual bathing.
      The majority of the room’s surfaces are lined with a waterproof cement-based coating, chosen for a “Japanese-inspired concrete aesthetic”, and offset by golden fixtures and wooden boards.
      Find out more about Sunken Bath ›

      Western Studio, USA, by GoCstudio
      The Western Studio apartment’s bathroom is contained within a stained plywood box that is intended to offer a snug counterpoint to the brighter, open-plan interiors of the dwelling.
      Its moody aesthetic was created using inky venetian plaster on the walls, paired with black Dornbracht fixtures and a large bespoke sink carved from warm Jatoba wood.
      Find out more about Western Studio ›

      Kyle House, UK, by GRAS
      Tactile plaster and large charcoal-coloured stone tiles line the surfaces of this generously-sized bathroom, which GRAS designed as part of a renovation of a derelict house in the Scottish Highlands.
      It features a freestanding black bath, placed beside a window overlooking Ben Loyal mountain, and is brightened by Danish oak ceiling panels, window frames and cabinetry that conceals the toilet.
      Find out more about Kyle House ›

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      Lost House by David Adjaye features black interiors and bedroom with a pool

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      Black walls, built-in raw concrete furniture and a fish pond in a lightwell define Lost House, a residential project designed by David Adjaye in London’s King’s Cross, which has recently come on the market.Royal Gold Medal-winner Adjaye, the founder of Adjaye Associates, designed Lost House in 2004.

      Top: the swimming pool. Above: a central lightwell holds a fish pond
      The house has come back on the market recently, granting an opportunity to see the interiors of one of the architect’s early residential works in detail.

      Original features have been preserved, including an all-green sunken cinema room and a water gardens in planted courtyards that double as lightwells.

      A courtyard garden in a lightwell
      Hidden behind an unassuming brick facade in an alleyway, Lost House was formerly a delivery yard complete with a loading platform.
      Adjaye Associates turned the concrete loading platform into a plinth for an upper-level swimming pool with black-painted sides next to the pink-walled main bedroom.

      The ground floor is an open plan living space
      On the ground floor, there is a large open plan living, dining and kitchen area with a double-height ceiling.
      The sunken conversation pit with a cinema room-style projector, complete with zesty lime walls, built-in bookshelves and wide sofas, is off to one side.

      Raw concrete countertops are part of the kitchen
      Three tall, glass-walled lightwells stretch up to the black-painted timber eaves of the roof, bringing natural daylight down into the room instead of windows.
      In the centre of the living area is a lightwell filled with a fishpond.

      A sunken conversation pit is entirely bright green
      The square courtyards in the lightwells are planted with tropical greenery. At the back, next to the kitchen, the courtyard features wooden decking around clusters of circular concrete benches inset with the same grey pebbles that surround them.
      The black chipboard walls, ceiling and exposed timber beams are reflected in the shiny black resin floor.

      Concrete benches in the courtyard garden
      Adding to the industrial look are the thick concrete elements of the built-in kitchen, which forms a continuous countertop and splashback.

      Ten key projects by RIBA Royal Gold Medal winner David Adjaye

      A concrete element continues from the kitchen to the living area, were it forms a low bench upholstered in black leather cushions.

      Black walls and floors around the pool and bathroom
      Steps lead to the raised ground floor, where the old loading bay plinth supports the lap pool. Black stone tiles surround the pool, which is part of the master bathroom for the main bedroom.
      Two stone sinks sit on a concrete shelf below mirrored cabinets. A wet-room style shower allows the residents to wash before and after swimming.

      The master bedroom is entirely pink
      This bathroom connects directly to the back of the master suite, which has a separate toilet and a long corridor connecting to the stairs. The bedroom is decorated all pink to contrast with the ink-black interiors
      A second bedroom is located on this floor, with a third bedroom located up on the first floor that is currently being used as a home office.

      An upstairs room is a work from home office
      David Adjaye founded Adjaye Associates in 2000 and began his career designing high-end residential projects in north London such as Lost House. Other notable all-black houses by the studio include Dirty House and Sunken House.
      Photography is courtesy of United Kingdom Sotheby’s International Realty.

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