Hasta La Ideas

This apartment conversion in Bilzen, Belgium, by C.T. Architects is designed as a stylish home for a wheelchair user and features practical storage including shelves built into either end of an angular dining table.

Local office C.T. Architects adapted a space which was previously used as storage for an apartment block into a compact home that incorporates several accessible features.

Architect Nick Ceulemans wanted to create a home “that does not look at all like a dwelling for a physically challenged person.” Ceulemans said: “In fact, while many of the design solutions were inspired by necessity, they would all be welcome in any urban small loft.”

The first thing to be done was to adapt the building’s main entrance by adding a ramp to the owner’s front door and provide a new communal entrance to the other flats.

Inside the small apartment, a bright living and dining area is connected to the bedroom by a corridor that is wide enough to comfortably accommodate a wheelchair.

Wet areas and storage spaces are grouped together to free up as much floor space as possible inside the 80 square-metre apartment, which also includes a small terrace accessed through sliding glass doors from the bedroom.

As well as the shelving incorporated into the dining table, the headboard of the bed functions as a desk with integrated storage.

A specially designed hybrid lighting fixture and electrical hub on the desk in the bedroom features a rotating beam that can direct light towards the work surface or the bed and provides convenient charging points.

Materials and finishes used throughout the interior were chosen to enhance the apartment’s bright and relaxed feel, with the textured floors and doors adding warmth and tactility.

“A sense of unity and calm is created by using white walls and ceilings combined with rough-sawn oak floors and sliding doors hiding the storage space, bathroom and toilet,” explained the architects.

Electrically height adjustable kitchen units drop down to make the cupboards easier to reach, while the position of a lamp in the living and dining space can be adjusted by swinging it away from the wall.

Photography is by Tim Van de Velde.

Here’s some more information from C.T. Architects:

A home without boundaries

The project includes the conversion of a ground floor apartment, previously used for storage, into an accessible and wheelchair friendly living space for an accident victim. The result is an apartment that does not look at all like a dwelling for a physically challenged person. In fact, while many of the design solutions were inspired by necessity, they would all be welcome in any urban small loft.

To create an accessible residence, C.T. Architects changed the main entrance of the building block to create a ramp to the client’s front door and a new communal entrance for the upstairs neighbours. The apartment itself was transformed completely.

By clustering the wet areas and storage space into two compact volumes, the architect was able to bring natural light into the long and narrow canyon- like layout that is organised into a conventional succession of increasingly private spaces: living room and dining area near the main entrance, a central corridor – at a comfortable width for wheelchair passage – and with an efficient kitchen on one side and the bathroom on the other side, and then the bedroom/study in the rear.

Sliding glass doors lead from the bedroom/study onto a small back terrace. A sense of unity and calm is created by using white walls and ceilings combined with rough-sawn oak floors and sliding doors hiding the storage space, bathroom and toilet. The kitchen designed by C.T. Architects is electrically height-adjustable which provides a wheelchair-bound user with the ability to reach everything easily.

Nick Ceulemans from C.T. Architects also designed key pieces of the furniture to meet the client’s specific needs and preferences and to comply with Belgian disability codes. He designed the dining table with built-in shelves at both ends and a flexible swing-arm wall lamp above this table (also presented at this year’s Salone del Mobile in Milan).

In the bedroom, Nick Ceulemans designed the double-duty bed with a desk at its head, an adjacent wall of bookshelves and a hybrid light fixture/electrical hub that swivels to illuminate both bed and work surface and to provide outlets at a convenient height for the user.

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accessible home for a wheelchair user appeared first on Dezeen.

Portuguese architect João Branco has converted a small office building in Coimbra into a home by installing softwood joinery that functions as furniture, storage and partitions (+ slideshow).

Described by Branco as being “closer to carpentry than building construction”, the project involved adding three sections of woodwork to the lower floor of the two-storey property to create a living room, dining area, study, kitchen and toilet.

“The intervention proposes to let the light flow, converting it into a diaphanous space and thus increasing the feeling of spaciousness,” said the architect.

The first wooden structure sits just beyond the entrance. It creates a study area for two people beneath the staircase, but also accommodates a cloakroom, a shelf and a gridded bookshelf.

Ahead of this, a low and narrow timber piece doubles as both a sideboard and a bench, separating the living and dining areas.

The kitchen and toilet are both housed within the third structure. This is made up of floor-to-ceiling partitions, some of which turn out to be doors, and also includes a row of kitchen cupboards and a countertop.

“The objects are designed to provide the greatest possible sobriety, resulting in a high degree of abstraction and giving the house enhanced spatial clarity,” added Branco.

An oak parquet floor was added throughout the space, while an existing staircase with wooden treads leads up to bedroom spaces on the level above.

Photography is by Do Mal o Menos.

Here’s a project description from João Branco:

Apartment in Coimbra

Three pieces of furniture create a home. The aim was to convert a former two-floor office into a rental apartment. The proposal, which develops at the lower level, focuses on reconverting a small area, originally subdivided and dark, to accommodate the social areas of the house.

The intervention proposes to let the light flow, converting it into a diaphanous space and thus increasing the feeling of spaciousness. The main decision is not to build, intervening by dispensing with traditional construction work, in favour of a dry approach, much simpler, without creating new walls or divisions. To that, the plant is emptied, introducing in the diaphanous space three wooden pieces of furniture that will organise the space.

Firstly, a box contains wet areas: kitchen and bathroom. A mobile with a bookcase and table gives form to the the entrance and to a small office under the stairs. Finally, a movable lower furniture separates the living and eating areas. With only these three pieces, shape is given to the spaces of the house, always visually connected to maintain unity and flow of southern light.

This work, closer to carpentry than building construction, focuses on the details and encounters. Reducing to a minimum the elements, fittings, switches, etc. the objects are designed to provide the greatest possible sobriety, resulting in a high degree of abstraction and giving the house enhanced spatial clarity.

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furniture inside home by João Branco appeared first on Dezeen.

German studio Von M has rebuilt the interior of an apartment block in Stuttgart to create a trio of open-plan homes where built-in furniture divides rooms and stark walls are offset with colourful objects (+ slideshow).

Von M retained and restored the Wilhelminian-style brick and sandstone facade of the four-storey building, but removed almost all of the interior walls and re-planned the layout of the apartments inside.

“Before the reconstruction, layer after layer was carefully removed in order to keep the damage to the original parts as little as possible,” said the architects.

“After the deconstruction all building parts to be saved and conserved were documented and recorded. The documentation then became the basis for the complete reconstruction concept of the apartments,” they explained.

A pair of apartments occupying the lower two floors were adapted to make more efficient use of their area, but the two upstairs flats were combined to create a two-storey maisonette with its own internal staircase (pictured).

This staircase offers an informal divider between the dining area and kitchen that comprise the whole of this floor, while the attic storey above contains bedroom and bathroom spaces.

Walls and ceilings were painted in pale shades throughout each apartment, while bathrooms are lined with white mosaic tiles and cupboards are concealed behind floor-to-ceiling mirrors.

Here’s a project description from Von M:

B 175 – Restoration of a Wilhelminian-Style Apartment Building

The building is a typical Wilhelminian style apartment building in Stuttgart-Heslach consisting of three storeys proper and one attic.

The location within the urban renewal area Stuttgart 22 – Heslach made it possible to support the structural alteration measures and remedial actions by means of municipal financial subsidies. After a number of coordination meetings with local authority representatives a reorganisation plan could be outlined and set.

Because the characteristic brick facade was thought to give distinction to the street picture, we did without any insulation of the facade and decided for a cautious restoration of the brickwork and sandstone blocks. The restoration of the facade was complemented by special energetic measures on the exterior shell in order to get the possibly best preserving and ecological results.

Whereas the reconstruction works were restricted to restoration and dismantling measures on the building’s exterior, the interior underwent considerable alterations of the existing substance. Essential in this context again was the conservation and restoration of original building parts providing identity.

Before the reconstruction, layer after layer was carefully removed in order to keep the damage to the original parts as little as possible. After the deconstruction all building parts to be saved and conserved were documented and recorded. The documentation then became the basis for the complete reconstruction concept of the apartments.

The apartments on the 3rd and 4th floor were combined into a maisonette with internal opening. The constriction of the rooms and the existing east-west orientation of the apartment on the 3rd floor were the reason why all bearing walls were removed, favouring an open and ample floor plan giving diverse mutual views of the different areas. Partitions were only conceived as built-in furniture clearly distinct from the existing building parts and materials.

The result is a collage-like interplay of contemporary architectural elements – as distinctive signs for the alterations – in contrast to the conserved and restored elements.

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inside a Stuttgart apartment block appeared first on Dezeen.

Spanish firm Nook Architects has renovated a Barcelona apartment by adding patterned floor tiles plus a combined step and window seat leading out onto the terrace (+ slideshow).

The Casa Sal apartment in the Poble Sec district of the city is only three metres wide and 19 metres long.

Nook Architects covered the kitchen, bathroom and study with patterned ceramics to divide up the space visually. They then used wooden flooring for a softer look and feel in the rest of the home.

The kitchen acts as the hub of the apartment by linking the living room and the bedroom areas. Nook said they placed extra emphasis on the kitchen.

“For our client, the most important part was the kitchen which had to be the heart of the home; functional, resistant, lively, and very much on the lead in regards to the rest of the room.”

The brightly tiled kitchen leads on to the living room and a slightly raised terrace. Before work started the terrace was in poor condition and could only be accessed through a narrow, opaque door.

To make it feel more connected to the rest of the home, Nook fitted a window seat that doubles as a step with storage space underneath. By using the same material for the top of the bench and floor of the terrace they managed to integrate the terrace with the rest of the apartment. The sliding window doors also allow far more natural light into the room.

Like the kitchen and living room, the client’s bedroom is separated from the study by using floor tiles. Again, Nook used the eye-catching tiles to divide up the relatively small space.

It is becoming increasingly popular to use encaustic floor tiles in Barcelona, with many architects uncovering original flooring from the 1960s. In this case, with no original tiles to unearth, Nook’s client chose the tiles herself – a floral theme for the study, a checkerboard tile for the bathroom and geometrical patterns for the kitchen.

Photography is by nieve.

Here’s a project description from Nook Architects:

CASA SAL, Apartment in Poble Sec, Barcelona

For nook there are two different types of projects from the client’s point of view: that of an owner who will live on the dwelling, and those focused for an unknown user (for example, a rental apartment). On commissions for the first example, we try get to know the client’s day to day customs and habits as thoroughly as possible- anything that could have an effect on their way of life. This was the case of CASA SAL, where the refurbishment of a dwelling was shaped around personality of its owner.

On the other hand, we had to face de difficulties of the original geometry, a very compartmentalised rectangle, only 3 metres wide, and 19 metres long. On one of its ends lay a terrace in very poor conditions, elevated in regards to the dwellings floor level, which could only be accessed through a narrow, opaque door.

These were the premises we worked around in order to solve the architectural problems of the property and the functional requirements of our client. From the start, it involved teamwork, between the architects and the client.

For the client, the most important part was the kitchen, which had to be the heart of the home; functional, resistant, lively, and very much on the lead in regards to the rest of the room. The kitchen therefore articulates the rest of the spaces: on one side there’s the living room with Access to the terrace, and on the other the most private areas, her bedroom and study, a bathroom and a guest room.

To counter the sensation of the narrow proportions of the dwelling, we treated the pavement with fringes of different types of very eye-catching finishes, placing more resistant materials in the kitchen, bathroom, and study, and combining them with Wood for a softer look and feel on the rest of the home. Our client participated by choosing the different tiles used: a hydraulic mosaic for the kitchen with geometrical shapes, a floral theme for the study, and a checker board for the bathroom.

For the terrace, we had a double objective: to solve the deficient connection between it and the living room and to transform into source of natural light, giving it a purpose all year long. This is why we decided to open a large hole on the facade and placed a seating bench that doubles as a stair and storage area with bookcases and drawers. The same pavement was used to finish the terrace on the outside, and the bench on the inside, making the terrace part of the living room itself.

We understood from the beginning that even though our intervention was over, the client’s intervention had only begun. She now has a starting point based on a very familiar architecture to her past, her tastes, and way of live, which will evolve naturally and alongside herself.

Architects: nook architects
Location: Barcelona, España
Year: 2013

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window seat to Barcelona apartment renovation appeared first on Dezeen.

The resident of a compact apartment in Madrid demonstrates how she can rearrange walls and pull furniture out of the ceiling in this movie by photographer and filmmaker Miguel de Guzmán.

Designed by Spanish studio Elii Architects, the Didomestic apartment occupies the loft of an old building, so it was designed to make optimal use of space by creating flexible rooms that can be adapted for different activities.

Sliding pink partitions allow the main floor to be either opened up or divided into a series of smaller spaces, while a new mezzanine loft provides a bedroom where floor panels hinge open to reveal a vanity mirror, toiletry storage and a tea station.

The architects also added several fun elements to tailor the space to the resident’s lifestyle; a hammock, playground swing and disco ball all fold down from the ceiling, while a folding surface serves as a cocktail bar or ironing board.

“Every house is a theatre,” explained the architects. “Your house can be a dance floor one day and a tea room the next.”

The movie imagines a complete day in the life of the apartment’s inhabitant, from the moment she wakes up in the morning to the end of an evening spent with a friend.

“The idea was to show all the different spaces and mechanisms in a narrative way,” said De Guzmán.

Getting dressed in the morning, the resident reveals wardrobes built into one of the walls. Later, she invites a friend round for a meal and they dine at a picnic table that lowers down from the kitchen ceiling.

A rotating handle on the wall controls the pulleys needed to bring this furniture down from overhead, while other handles can be used to reveal shelving and fans.

A metal staircase connecting the two levels is contained within a core at the centre of the apartment and is coloured in a vivid shade of turquoise.

A shower room lined with small hexagonal tiles is located to the rear of the kitchen, plus there’s a bathroom on the mezzanine floor directly above.

Photography is also by Miguel de Guzmán.

Here’s a project description from Elii Architects:

Project for the complete refurbishment of an attic in downtown Madrid

The scope of the project covers from the development of a customised functional proposal for a user that is turning a new leaf to the rehabilitation of the structure, the insulation, the facilities and the modernisation of the existing construction systems.

The selected approach removes all obstacles from the floor to provide the greatest possible flexibility. Two basic elements are used: firstly, the central core, comprising the staircase, some shelves and the larder. The core is at the centre of the main space under the mansard roof. It connects the access floor and the space under the roof and allows the natural lighting coming through the roof into the living room. Secondly, there are two side strips for the functional elements (kitchen, bathroom, storage space and domestic appliances).

This basic arrangement is complemented by two strategies that provide flexibility to the domestic spaces.

Firstly, the moving panels that are integrated into the core and run along guide rails. These panels can be used to create different arrangements, such as adding an extra room for a guest, separating the kitchen from the living room area or opening the whole floor for a party. The panels have transparent sections so that the natural lighting coming through the mansard roof can reach this space.

Secondly, the secret trap doors that are integrated into the ceiling of the access floor and into the floor of the mezzanine and that house the rest of the domestic functions. The ceiling doors are opened with handles fitted on the walls. These handles actuate pulleys that lower part of the furniture (such as tables and the picnic benches, a swing or the hammock) or some complementary functions and objects (such as the disco ball, the fans to chill out on the hammock or an extra shelf for the guest room).

In addition, the floor of the space under the roof has a series of invisible doors that can be opened to alter the functionality of the raised space where the bedroom area is (these spaces house the dressing table, the tea room and the storage spaces for the bathroom).

All these elements are integrated within the floor and the ceiling and they appear and disappear at the user’s whim. The secret trap doors and the sliding panels complement the basic configuration, fit the needs of the moment and provide different home layout combinations.

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apartment with moving walls and secret furniture appeared first on Dezeen.