“The apartment is in a nineteenth-century apartment block on a very cute corner, but it was in a pretty poor state of repair,” Kohn explains.
“It was subdivided into many small rooms so there was no gathering space, nor was there any sense of this rather unusual triangular plan and it’s relationship to the city.”
“There was all this potential, but it was all held back by the architecture.”
To rectify this, Kohn’s studio stripped away most of the apartment’s internal partitions, creating an open-plan living space to make the most of the large windows and high ceilings.
“We wanted to change the apartment to focus on the pleasure of gathering,” explains Kohn. “The architecture of the apartment now is about creating the right setting for that kind of social encounter.”
Two of the bedrooms are contained within a wooden tower at one end of the apartment, which Kohn describes as “a kind of scale replica” of a 1950s apartment block by Spanish architect Josep Antoni Coderch in the La Barceloneta neighbourhood of the city.
“The bedrooms in this tower block have louvred windows so when you want to go to bed you can close the building,” he says.
The apartment’s most striking feature is its tiled floor, which is made up of 25 different triangular designs.
“We basically did research on how we can make a tiled floor using traditional technologies that would be affordable for this project, but introduced something new,” says Kohn.
“We asked Mosaics Martí, who made all the tiles, to use varying amounts of green and red pigment. Now you see it laid, the apartment has a graded floor that goes from green at one end to red.”
Kohn says that the transformation has been received well by the clients, two brothers who grew up in Barcelona but now live in London and Hong Kong.
“The clients love it because because their lives were very pragmatic in the way they used the flat,” he says.
“What we were able to reintroduce into their lives was a pleasure of being in this interior, celebrating their time in Barcelona.”
David Kohn
Inside Festival 2013 took place at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore from 2-4 October. The next Inside Festival will take place at the same venue from 1-3 October 2014. Award entries are open February to June 2013.
Young Serbian architect and 3D artist Milan Stevanović created these convincingly photo-realistic renderings of an imaginary Scandinavian interior furnished with favourite design pieces he found on the internet.
Stevanović, who says he has “a soft spot for Scandinavian architecture and lifestyle,” created the images in his spare time, using 3ds Max to model the furniture and cloth simulations created in Marvelous Designer.
Creating an all-white interior with a Scandinavian theme, he experimented with different lighting setups and moods to see how they would affect the space and materials.
“Most of the furniture pieces caught my attention while browsing different design websites, and in my personal opinion are great examples of a fresh new furniture design,” Stevanović told Dezeen. “My intent was to create clean and bright interior design, and group all of these furniture pieces together.”
Pieces in the room include the Haluz rocking chair by Czech designer Tomáš Vacek and the Slap cabinet by Italian studio Whatwelike To Design, which Stevanović “modified a little bit so it fits better to my needs.”
Stevanović designed the pallett-based sofa himself and added three coffee tables: Vitra’s Eames Occasional Table LTR, by the rocking chair, the Rolf Benz 8480 coffee table by the sofa and Normann Copenhagen Tablo table.
“As for the wood/wire floor lamp, I stumbled on it on the internet, but unfortunately I couldn’t find the name of the designer,” says Stevanović, who has added an artwork by his brother, Jovan Stevanović, leading against the wall in the left corner of the room.
Furniture was modelled with simple poly-modelling techniques, Stevanović says, using the Cloth modifier for sofa and the MassFX modifier for the Haluz rocking chair.
“It is a fantasy,” Stevanović said of the project. “Most of [the items] I modelled from scratch; others, like books, tulips and that kind of stuff I find online. Some of them are free some of them you can buy.”
Untreated timber cladding and angular dormer windows feature at this small housing development in Amsterdam by Dutch studio M3H Architecten (+ slideshow).
Comprising two narrow houses and a three-storey apartment block, the small development slots into a row of residential buildings in Bellamy, a neighbourhood west of the city centre that has seen a number of renovations and demolitions over the last ten years.
M3H Architecten designed the buildings to fit in with the “unique, diverse and small-scale character” of the suburb, where plot sizes vary and houses are interspersed with commercial buildings.
“The street’s architectural characteristics are defined by its staggered facades, irregular plot sizes and the varying heights of its buildings,” said the architects.
Timber clads the walls and rooftops of the structures, contrasting with the brick facades of neighbouring buildings. Each facade comprise two layers of wooden slats, plus a water-retaining layer of bitumen that helps the buildings dry quickly when wet.
Photograph by Allard van der Hoek
“The slats are double-layered to help with ventilation,” explained the architects. “What is essential when using untreated wood in the Dutch climate is that the wood on the facades be well ventilated so that it can dry quickly after being rained upon.”
Photograph by Allard van der Hoek
The designers used a Brazilian timber that will gradually fade to grey over time, and concealed gutters and roof drains behind the facade’s outer layer.
Both houses are identical in plan, each with two storeys that open out to rear gardens and first-floor balconies. The apartments also come with private patios, including a large roof terrace that belongs to the top-floor residence.
“Even though these are very small homes, their generous amount of daylight, wide views and large outdoor spaces give each a unique quality and one never has a feeling of being confined,” added the architects.
Photography is by Tobias Bader, apart from where otherwise stated.
Here’s a project description from the architects:
Wooden Houses
For the past decade, Wenslauer Street in the Bellamy neighbourhood of Amsterdam has been undergoing a metamorphosis. In collaboration with the city council, the Stadgenoot housing corporation and various individuals, architects and small developers, a dozen dwellings have been renovated, and more than ten old houses have been demolished and replaced by new buildings.
The Bellamy neighbourhood is a neighbourhood where living and working have always been mixed, leading to a wide variety of buildings in the area. In 2011, M3H restored a house and built a new ‘steel’ house. Since then, five M3H-designed dwellings have been built: an ensemble of two houses with gardens and three small apartments.
The development plan for Wenslauer Street and its existing buildings was moulded and altered to suit Bellamy’s unique, diverse and small-scale character. In this way, the highly valued historical aspect of the neighbourhood was preserved: because the properties were run-down, they were not eligible for ‘protected face’, or historical protection status. The street’s architectural characteristics are defined by its staggered façades, irregular plot sizes and the varying heights of its buildings. Business lots alternate with smaller and larger residential plots.
The front yards and trees that lined Wenslauer Street at the beginning of the 20th century have disappeared, unlike the adjacent Bellamy Street, where these have been largely preserved. The street’s architectural characteristics follow from the irregular plot sizes, which often are determined by commercial or residential zoning. The varying heights of the buildings in the area find their roots in the neighbourhood’s village-like character, but Amsterdam contractors and carpenters have also built larger housing blocks next to the original polder development.
In order to make the houses more economically viable for residents, and to encourage home improvement, it’s possible to build extensions on the houses. This was recommended in a spatial study created in 2005 by Marina Roosebeek. Using the study as a model, zoning exemptions can be requested for extensions on existing spaces. The spatial study is founded on an analysis of insolation (sunlight) on Wenslauer Street, which is narrow, and also addresses the maintenance of the existing variety and irregular subdivisions of the street, as well as the visual impact of the staggered heights of the buildings.
The building space for M3H’s ensemble was determined by the boundaries set forth in the spatial study. For houses 65 and 67, that meant a single-story building on the street side, with a sloped roof. Two single-family dwellings with gardens were built in that space. The sloped roof permits a great deal of sun to fall on the narrow street. A window in the ridge of the roof lets sun into the north-facing kitchen and bedroom.
Wenslauer Street 69 is next to a four-storey building, and was permitted to be three storeys high. It consists of three small apartments, each having its own spatial quality and outdoor space. The residence on the ground floor has a south-facing patio with access to both the living room and bedroom. From the patio a long sightline through the entire residence is visible, from front to back. The apartment on the first floor has a south-facing roof terrace, and the apartment on the second floor has the option for a terrace on its roof.
On the front side of this apartment there is a special corner window that provides a wide view of the whole street. On the rear side, both upper residences have another corner window with views over houses 65 and 67’s patios and enclosed yards. Even though these are very small homes, their generous amount of daylight, wide views and large outdoor spaces give each a unique quality, and one never has a feeling of being confined.
The façades, dormer windows and sloping roof surfaces were all constructed with the same material. This serves to create a sculptural dimension with a unique look that suits the diversity of homes on Wenslauer Street. The sculptural quality is strengthened through simple and abstract detailing. The type of wood used is untreated FSC certified Sucupira Amarela, which will, within two years, become uniformly grey.
What is essential when using untreated wood in the Dutch climate is that the wood on the façades be well ventilated so that it can dry quickly after being rained upon. For this, a double layer of slats is placed within the timber framing of the houses, and has a water-retaining layer of bitumen. The slats are double-layered to help with ventilation. The gutters and roof drains are thus easy to hide behind the wooden façade. This also compliments the sculptural aspect of the construction.
The ensemble was built as a hybrid construction. The structural shell was made in a way common in The Netherlands: with sand lime brick walls and wide slab concrete flooring. The façades, dormer windows and sloping roofs were timber-framed. Despite a limited budget, M3H tried to include wood in as many elements as possible. The Wenslauer Street houses demonstrate a shift in the application of wood for construction and components of the façade not often seen in The Netherlands. In the brick city of Amsterdam, it’s uncommon to use wood. In fitting wood into our plan for this project, we hope to contribute to a wider acceptance of wooden buildings made by commissioning parties, contractors and residents.
Exposed brick walls and a large bookshelf are on show through the glazed facade of this ground-floor apartment in Montreal by Canadian designer Anne Sophie Goneau (+ slideshow).
Anne Sophie Goneau began the renovation by stripping the apartment back to its structure, revealing raw brick walls and steel I-beams, then designed an open-plan layout with a bedroom on side and a bathroom at the back.
“The concept was to highlight the raw materials discovered during the demolition, in order to communicate their material, their relief and colour environment,” explained Goneau.
A kitchen runs along one side of the space. Glossy black cabinets, surfaces and appliances flank the exposed red brickwork, while a contrasting white counter is positioned in front.
“The open kitchen is the focal point of the space; it unfolds on the dining room and living room,” said Goneau.
A floor-to-ceiling glass partition separates the kitchen and dining area from the main bedroom, which residents can choose to screen with curtains.
A full-height bookshelf is positioned in front of this bedroom, forming the backdrop of a living room that is also furnished with a large green sofa and a pair of reclaimed wooden armchairs.
A timber-lined corridor leads to a second bedroom and bathroom towards the rear. The bathroom is divided into sections; on one side the bathtub and steel sink are surrounded by white walls, while the adjacent shower and toilet are contained behind dark-tinted glass for privacy.
The project is the design of a 1,280 square feet condo located on the ground floor of a triplex in Montreal. The mandate was to divide each living area in order to maximise while maintaining the architectural integrity of the existing location, each room with natural light.
The concept was to highlight the raw materials, discovered during the demolition (brick wall, wall hemlock and steel structure), in order to communicate their material, their relief and colour environment.
Upon entering the hall is semi-closed hall, so that it has an overview of the condo. The open kitchen is the focal point of the space; it unfolds on the dining room and living room, where the master bedroom fits.
It is bounded by a glass wall which preserves the view of the bare brick; an archaeological reminder wanting to highlight the existing raw materials as an exhibitor showcase. A green velvet sofa, two vintage chairs and a bookshelf that leans against the bedroom wall bound the living room.
On the ground, a radiant hot water heating system was installed under a concrete slab which was covered by a light grey epoxy and polyurethane matt finish to replicate the natural colour of concrete. The primary and secondary bedrooms, as well as the bathroom, are glossy white epoxy to distinguish the private area of the common space.
The steel beam, flameproof, delimits the passage area. In the corridor leading to the bathroom, a light-emitting diode was installed in the recessed ceiling for a more intimate setting, which features the original hemlock wall.
Tone on tone, glossy black kitchen cabinets and electrical appliances are blended. The cooktop with integrated sub-hood, allows maximum exposure of brick wall, the backsplash, lit by a light-emitting diode recessed in counter.
The dining table becomes the visual continuity of the kitchen island. In the bathroom, custom-made stainless steel countertop and bath rectilinear shapes are stacked on each other, forming a sculptural composition. On the floor, a white epoxy and in the shower a dark grey epoxy were applied.
The contrast between these two colours form a psychological boundary of two areas: one is clear and bright, the other, darker, creating a private area for the shower and toilet. The window allows natural light in the room while preserving the intimacy of the space, with a frosted film.
Project name: Espace St-Denis Description: Design of a condo, storefront Design: Anne Sophie Goneau Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada Date: 2013
An invisible man and woman are the stars of the photoshoot for this renovated apartment in Paris by French designer Paul Coudamy (+ slideshow).
After completing Studio Nuctale, Paul Coudamy teamed up with photographer Benjamin Boccas to construct a fantasy scenario where the two residents of the apartment are completely invisible and lounge around wearing suits.
“Pictures can more powerful without personified people,” Coudamy told Dezeen. “It adds a mystery to the strange lighting sculpture and also gives more impact on the project, as the eye is not attracted by an facial expression.”
Located in the Buttes-aux-Cailles neighbourhood, the apartment has an area of just 35 square metres, so the designer had to develop an interior that makes the most of space.
He used CNC-milled plywood to assemble a compact timber module on one side of the space, which accommodates a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and breakfast counter.
“All the functions of this small apartment have been concentrated to free up space in the living room,” Coudamy told Dezeen. “I worked in three dimensions rather than in plan to adapt all the volumes and maximise storage.”
The apartment is located on the ground floor of the building and suffered from poor natural light, so a five-metre-long lighting fixture was added to distribute light across the interior.
Described by the designer as a “geometric cloud”, the piece is constructed from 15 light sources and 76 frosted glass triangles, which are held together by hinges and rivets to allow the structure to be moulded into different configurations.
“I decided to to bring the clouds and sun inside,” said Coudamy. “A user can adapt the height and shape of this hanging sculpture to provide an exceptional feeling and fully adjustable and comfortable lighting”.
“Nuctale,” the contraction of Nuage Fractal, is a tiny 35 m2 space lit by a monumental 5m long light: a disproportional geometrical cloud that provides a unique backdrop to this studio in the Buttes-aux-Cailles. As always, Paul Coudamy produces a maximum effect with minimal space and materials.
The light structure comprises 15 sources and 76 frosted acrylic triangles, the relief of the cloud is versatile enough to individualise thanks to a set of 206 hinges and 824 rivets. An architect-designed construction inspired by sailing navigation, but conceived with the skill of an artisan creating a bespoke design. It perfectly sums up this young atypical agency that designs and manufactures places in one sweep. The furniture and storage have also been designed and produced in digitally cut plywood in order to optimise this small space. A lesson in terms of architecture, where the difficulty of the means is pushed to the limit.
This seaside studio apartment in Barcelona by Spanish studio Colombo and Serboli Architecture has an all-white interior that includes a tiled kitchen and bathroom that can be hidden away (+ slideshow).
Colombo and Serboli Architecture designed the apartment for an art historian and curator who asked for a plain space where he could display his art, music and books.
“The client envisioned a peaceful, open and essential space, furnished with a few carefully selected objects,” said the studio. “In sum, [it is] a peaceful place for introspection, flooded with light.”
The space contains a combined living room and bedroom, with a small kitchenette and bathroom on one side that can be hidden away behind a sliding door and folding panel.
Lighting fixtures are tucked out of sight in the kitchen shelves and around the bathroom, while a light suspended above the window frame illuminates the outdoor space.
The tiled walls are set against dark grey grouting, while other details include white furniture and a resin floor.
A glazed wall comprising a door and several windows leads out onto a shaded outdoor terrace.
The renovation of this 36 square metre apartment came with a defined brief. The client, a French Art historian and curator, professor at the Sorbonne University, came to us with very clear ideas for his small property.
The apartment, located in the city centre of the coast town of Sitges (a few steps from the beach) is completely introverted, facing only an interior courtyard. The lack of views is compensated by silence and light.
The client envisioned a peaceful, open and essential space, furnished with a few carefully selected objects; contemporary artworks, some books, and his records. In sum, a peaceful place for introspection, flooded with light.
An extremely reduced budget asked for simple, inexpensive solutions. The space is conceived through three different blocks: the bathroom/kitchen block, the living/bedroom one and the third, external, the terrace. The last two are extremely permeable, only divided by a large window and a long, oversized louvers one on the bedroom side, both existing elements that were preserved.
The big opening connects a small terrace (11 square meters), unified with the interiors through the use of the continuous white resin flooring and a blank parasol that provides privacy while diffusing the daylight. Indoor and outdoor are therefore connected as a continuous living space.
The Quaderna table (Superstudio 1970), a piece our client desired to incorporate since the project started, inspired the tiles that clad bathroom/kitchen block. The white matte 3x3cm tiles reproduce the table’s grid and are the only texture allowed in the whole project. This block is connected with the living/bedroom area through an opening that reveals the tiles used inside the bathroom.
The same texture was also used inside the kitchen unit, creating a continuous spatial sequence through the consistency of texture, which appears once opened its horizontal book- door. The tiles also disguise the sliding door that leads to the toilet. All containers, such as in the kitchen unit and the closet in the bedroom area, are carefully hidden through the use of white doors.
We took our client’s desire of an all-white space quite literally, to the extreme of choosing this colour for the kitchen sink and all the streamlined taps of kitchen, wash hand basin and shower are matt white (Via Manzoni series by Gessi). All the lighting has been solved through the use of florescent tubes, hidden into the kitchen shelves or displayed like in the bathroom. A line of florescent light suspended on the window frame dividing living and terrace illuminates the indoor and the outdoor space, unifying them. On the outer face of the terrace balustrade, a bright, evergreen, large climber plant covers the wall, defining the threshold of the white space of the project.
The apartment is brought to life through the pieces the client chose. French artist Fabrice Hiber, of which our client is curator, is to perform a graphic piece on one of the walls of the living. A Daniel Riera photo is upon the bed head. Two prints by Cuban artist Félix González-Torres (with the writings “Somewhere Better Then This Place” e “Nowhere Better Then This Place”) are on the bathroom wall. A Hedi Slimane photo, sandwiched in plexiglass became the music table. Next to it, a Muji sofa, futon-like, rigorously white. A military camp table that collapse to form a briefcase and two interweaved raffia wooden chairs from the ’60 furnish the terrace.
Perforated yellow cupboards and drawers resemble slices of Swiss cheese inside this apartment in São Paulo by Brazilian architects Zoom Urbanismo (+ slideshow).
Zoom Urbanismo renovated the flat for a young couple, moving partitions to create an open-plan kitchen, living room and dining area with an original parquet floor and an exposed brick wall.
“The big windows, high ceiling and the good quality of the wooden floor showed that the apartment had potential,” said the architects, “but the closed spaces, divided by the walls, had poor lighting and ventilation, and deteriorated wall coverings.”
Bright yellow cupboards unite the various spaces and are dotted with holes that mimic star constellations. These holes can also be used as handles.
Thick concrete pillars frame the walls and high ceilings in the dining area and are lined with bookshelves on one side.
Sliding glass doors lead out from the living room to a terrace with a view over the city.
A corridor leads back towards two bedrooms, bathrooms, and a laundry room. These spaces also include perforated cupboards, but feature wooden and white-painted surfaces rather than yellow.
In the neighbourhood of Perdizes, in São Paulo, a young couple (an executive and a graphic designer) purchased the top apartment in a four-storey charming and old building.
The big windows, the high ceiling and the good quality of the wooden floor (all common in old constructions) showed that the apartment had potential, but the closed spaces, divided by the walls, had poor lighting and ventilation and deteriorated wall coverings.
The internal distribution of the apartment was reorganised in order to optimise and integrate the spaces. The social area became wide and articulated with the kitchen and the back balcony, which also contains the laundry.
The shelves and cabinets have different heights, so that many objects could be stored and shown. The cabinet doors have small holes that, combined, form the geometry of constellations. The holes are also handles for the cabinets.
A combined bookshelf and staircase creates a small library with interchangeable shelving at this apartment in the Ukraine by architect Alex Bykov (+ slideshow).
Architect Alex Bykov renovated the Kiev apartment’s interior around the owner’s request for a library, raising it on a small podium in one corner of the living room to maximise storage space.
The apartment only has two doors separating rooms, as each space flows into the next in a looping arrangement.
“The concept of movement appears through the spatial design areas such as the bedroom, the lounge, the library and the bathroom surrounding the kitchen – the historical symbol of the family’s heart,” said architect Alex Bykov.
“You can move from one room to another in an interrupted circle, since the spaces flow smoothly into each other,” he added.
Bykov shifted the doorways back to their original positions, after discovering they had been previously blocked, and retained the existing brickwork.
The exposed pastel-coloured bricks line the interior walls, and are joined by decorative lamps by fellow Ukrainian designers Anna Poppvych and Vasyliy Butenko and low-hung ceiling lamps by Artemide.
Polished timber floorboards are laid throughout the flat, while new partitions and the library are built from chunky chipboard panels. All the furniture is designed and built by the architect.
A skylight is positioned above the bathroom and is screened by wooden louvres that filter light into the room.
Usually they say that the successful interior is a beneficial combination of environmentally friendly contemporary decorative materials, design furniture, sanitary equipment and home appliances. Nevertheless, the interior of an apartment located in the heart of Kiev’s historical district has a much more valuable treasure – an idea.
A young creative couple had been looking for an architect, when their designer friend recommended them Alex Bykov. The couple was preparing for a wedding and decided to spend their honeymoon in the renewed apartment.
After a fruitful discussion of suggestions and proposals the concept of “constant motion” was born. Furthermore the concept became the main vector of planning design and stylistic solutions of the interior.
The concept of movement appears through spacial design areas such as the bedroom, the lounge, the library and the bathroom surrounding the kitchen, the historical symbol of the “family’s heart”. So you can move from one room to another in an uninterrupted circle, since the spaces flow smoothly into each other.
The windows face to the south-east side ,which is why the living room and the bedroom are filled with an early morning’s golden shine. The interior has a cosy warm colouring due to the pastel brick walls, the natural texture of wood and soft furniture.
During the process of dismantling it was discovered that the doorways had previously been blocked . Alex decided to shift the doorways by using the original bricks with an authentic early 20th century mark. The brick was bought from junkmen and carefully laid into the living room wall.
The built-in library – a primary wish of the couple, was designed to house the family library. The library has a podium, which was designed to provide more space for storage. It was decided to make two types of shelves for the library; thus this flexible solution gives an opportunity to change the geometric pattern of shelves in the future.
Alex also designed all the furniture and prepared individual work drawings. The woodwork was made from low cost materials. Artificial lighting is dim, warm and comfortable.
Concept of movement in the apartment
Decorative lamps are by Ukrainian designers Anna Popovych and Vasyliy Butenko; the ceiling lamps, which were presented to the newly-weds by close friends as a wedding gift, are by ‘Artemide’.
Bespoke wrought-iron products also immediately grab attention: the legs for the coffee and dining tables, a mirror in the bedroom, a sleeve for the kitchen hood and a window.
Architect Carles Enrich converted an old laundry space in Barcelona into an apartment that has a bookshelf merged with the staircase (+ slideshow).
Carles Enrich slotted three levels into the single-storey space to turn the dilapidated basement into a studio apartment for a young family, located in the Gràcia neighbourhood of the Catalan capital.
“[The project] is a fantastic opportunity to rethink the use of an unused place and optimise the conditions of the space,” said Enrich.
To create enough floor area, the south west portion of the long narrow plot was excavated to form a study and nursery.
Above this, a raised bedroom is supported on rows of black I-beams fixed to the wall on one side.
The other ends connect to vertical sections along the edge of the mezzanine, housing bookshelves in between that create low partitions.
The tops of the columns attach to more horizontal beams bolted to the opposite wall, high enough for people to walk underneath.
Steps up to the bedroom are suspended from the last two beams using thinner black metal elements. On the ground floor is the dining, kitchen and seating area.
A pergola-covered courtyard sits between this main building and a smaller single-storey volume containing more living space, with a terrace on its roof.
This outdoor living area can be seen from all spaces apart from the enclosed bathroom.
Original masonry walls and the small ceramic ceiling vaults between wooden beams were retained and exposed where possible. Brick and plasterwork have been painted white on most other walls.
The floor of the middle level is finished in a layer of polished concrete screed, while furniture and flooring downstairs are made from light wood.
Refurbishment of a studio-apartment in Gracia, Barcelona
The reconversion of an old laundry in the Gracia neighbourhood in a studio-apartment for a young family is a fantastic opportunity to rethink the use of an unused place and optimise the conditions of the space.
We propose to live in an open space, with the exception of the bathroom that is the only enclosed room. All the activities take place in a single space with visual contact of the interior patio. To achieve this, all the partitions that surrounded small rooms without natural light or ventilation where eliminated and the openings to the patio were extended.
The lower excavation enables the incorporation of a loft made of metallic beams and a three-centimetre wood board, which works as an independent living area inside another bigger area, without being never enclosed room. This small loft is meant more like a suspended furniture than a room.
An old storage room at the back of the plot is converted into a satellite studio that operates independently from the main space. This fragmentation of the program makes the patio an intermediate space that can be used as an outdoor room most part of the year.
A pergola made of metal beams and a cane network provides privacy and climate control. The progressive growth of plants and trees generate a natural environment within the dense urban area.
Play “spot the woman” in this photo set of an apartment that references Tel Aviv’s 1950s interiors by Israeli practice Jacobs-Yaniv Architects (+ slideshow).
As the clients are modernist enthusiasts, Jacobs-Yaniv Architects used materials, colours and furniture from the movement’s heyday to inform the design of the 190-square-metre space.
“It was a great joy to study flats of Tel Aviv’s 50s, which were designed very cleverly,” said the designers.
Spaces are kept as open as possible in keeping with this style and to allow maximum flexibility for the family.
A corridor denoted by wooden flooring runs the full length of the long plan, utilised as a study area and library.
The master bedroom sits at the far end, with an adjacent dressing room and its own terrace.
Another larger terrace is positioned at the other end, accessible from the dining and lounge areas used for entertaining guests.
Placed in the centre of the flat, kitchen units supported on an L-shaped black steel frame have oak doors lower down and lacquered yellow cupboards on top. These finishes are also used for storage compartments elsewhere.
The children’s play area can be closed off with sliding doors to create a private guest room.
Jacobs-Yaniv Architects sent us the following information:
Tel Aviv of the 1950s meets 2000
For the clients, who were born and bred in Tel Aviv, but spent most of their adult life in a house in the suburbs raising their family, the ultimate dream was to come back to Tel Aviv as mature and independent individuals, available to enjoy all that the city has to offer.
Informed and inspired by their love to modernist Tel Aviv of 50s and modernist design, with today’s influences and technological advantages, they gained what they had hoped for.
The clients asked that the majority of space is kept open for maximum diversity in family activities.
There is only one formal bedroom placed in the far end of the flat while all other functions are concentrated in the centre of the space, holding the family area, a desk for two people, the kitchen and a play area which is a flexible space used both as a play room and guest room.
This room is placed right by the family area and can be isolated by two sliding doors – very typical of Tel Aviv’s 50s. The design of the kitchen, which was placed in the centre of the flat as a piece of furniture, involved meticulous detailing. The oak and coloured Formica cupboards, lined with black internal finishing, are held within a steel structure.
The structure also houses all the required electric fittings – smart home control panels, lighting and speakers. The kitchen was tailor-made to the requirements of the owners who love to cook and host.
Great thought was put into day-to-day functionality. There is plenty of storage space and display shelves for items that the clients have collected throughout the years.
The utility room is placed by the master bed room. It serves also as the guest bathroom and can be accessed through the main living space too, providing great ease around house work.
We strongly believe that optimum functionality and harmonious living in a home should be as flexible and fluent as possible. Therefore we plan a variety of access points from room to room and design at least one space as a ‘flexible room’ which can be used in different ways.
It was a great joy to study flats of Tel Aviv’s 50s, which were designed very cleverly providing exactly that; function, comfort and pleasure.
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