The 90 sqm apartment on two levels, part of a building with a solid brick load-bearing structure and wooden floors dating back to the early 1900s, has been purchased by the occupants, a couple of forty-year-old professionals, with the intention of living there as a first home.
The original layout has been therefore optimised, updated to the contemporary way of living, especially through the complete transformation of the attic floor, conceived as a "luminous lantern" with a strong identity, maximum functionality and comfort.
The architectural project concerns the radical transformation and connection of what were two units into a single domestic space.
The entrance is located on the lower floor, the entrance to the living area is through a double wooden swing door, a single room that connects the kitchen, dining area and living room. Here the original Oak parquet has been renovated and completed in some missing parts.
The apartment is characterized by the presence of a series of bespoke furniture designed in a sartorial manner which make the most of the space available and resolve the lack of provision of accessory spaces such as wardrobes. The two niches inserted in the central load-bearing wall, for example, were the opportunity to locate two custom furniture made of Oak veneered wood, radiator cover grills and frosted glass doors.
All the architectural choices has been made with the intention of maintaining an active dialogue with the pre-existing architectural elements, witnesses of the memory of the house.
The attic floor, however, is an unexpected discovery heralded by the iron staircase which, via a triple flight, leads to the most spectacular point of the house.
Unlike the lower floor, where the original layout of the partitions was mainly maintained, here the floor has been completely recovered through a total demolition and reconstruction of the roof with the reconstruction of two large sliding openings that infuse natural light into the spaces. The attic floor is a single large "open space" where the bed, bathtub and space for personal hygiene interact without ever showing themselves completely.
