Visualized by: Artem Tiutiunnyk

Location: Minsk / Belarus

Year: 2018

Size: 44.1m2

This look at the kitchen showcases the gray marble kitchen island that matches well with the tone of the modern cabinetry and the ceiling.

This view showcases the consistent bright tone of the kitchen with the walls, floor and ceiling matching the cabinetry on the far side.

The white tones of the whole kitchen makes the gray marble kitchen island stand out.

The bright tones are complemented by the natural lights coming in from the large window on the far side.

This view shows that the kitchen island is paired with stools and on the other side is a large wooden structure that houses the bed and also serves as a shelving for the living room.

This view shows the bed inside the large wooden structure. The dark bed is complemented by the wooden walls and ceiling.

Here you can see the sectional sofa of the living room beside the wooden structure adorned with a dark gray wall panel behind.

The wooden structure of the bedroom also serves as a shelving and wooden cabinetry of the living room.

This is the other side of the sectional sofa that has a wall-mounted lamp and a small wooden coffee table.

This view of the living room showscases more of the large wooden wall made by the structure of the bed. You can see here the cabinets of the wall.

This is the opposite wall of the sectional sofa with a wall-mounted TV and has a view of the kitchen.

This view of the living room shows more of the sectional sofa and the wooden coffee table by the tall window that brings in natural lighting.

This is a view of the kitchen from the vantage of the sectional sofa. You can see here the edge of the gray marble kitchen island and the white cabinetry on the far side.

The dark window that leads to the bathroom stands out in the white kitchen. This has a glass panel that shows a glimpse of the bathroom vanity.

This is the white wall with built-in modern cabinets that is just a few steps from the kitchen and bed.

The small gray marble kitchen island is complemented by a couple of gray stools.

This is an illustration of the floor plan of the house showcasing the various sections.

This is a side elevation of the flat showcasing the bathroom on the far side beside the kitchen.

This is a side elevation that shows the proximity of the bedroom and the living room.

This is a small apartment for one person. Modest dimensions (41m2) and a set of functional zones, led us to create a “box” concept and became the first task with which we started the design process.

Functional zoning – we decided to divide the space of the apartment into three main zones: the living room zone, the kitchen area – the dining room, and the sleeping area. To create an isolated place for sleeping, but at the same time to preserve the free space of the apartment with its “air”, we decided to integrate the sleeping unit directly into the center of the room, without protecting it by stationary walls or partitions.

We have designed the “Box” like furniture, which serves as an isolated sleeping module, as well as the main place for storage in the apartment. With the help of the box, we visually separated the entrance area from the general space, as well as the living room area from the dining room and kitchen. In the end, we got interpenetrating spaces that visually contact, but do not mix with each other. Thus, the “box” solved a number of functional and planning problems and became the visual accent of the entire apartment space.

Materials and contrasts

To further emphasize the new, “foreign” volume of the box, we decided to make the internal and external facades of the box in natural rough wood. The rest of the surfaces (floor, ceiling, walls, built-in-furniture) was made as laconic, smooth, and light.

This dialogue between the white, light background, and the accented volume of the “box”, creates a contrast dialog between colors, textures, and volumes, allowing to enhance the emotional perception of the interior and its basic materials.

Light

In this project, as in many others, we paid special attention to the light, both natural and artificial. With the help of a well-thought-out lighting concept, it was possible to create a bright, airy, and visually permeable space, illuminated by natural light.

We also provided a lot of different scenarios of artificial lighting, which allows both to regulate the illumination of the premises, and easily create the right mood of the interior. Light and emotional perception are inextricably linked and our goal was with the help of light, to emphasize and supplement the restraint of the interior.

Permeability

In a small space, the main resource is “air and volume” to achieve a sense of permeability and freedom, we cut the windows into a box and into the bathroom. These windows allowed us to distribute natural light into everything, even the darkest corners of the apartment. The windows allow illuminating the inner space of the box also the entrance area in the apartment.

We decided to follow the same principles for illumination in the bathroom. We cut through the portal between the kitchen and the bathroom, which allows us to illuminate the bathroom with natural light and create an additional visual dialogue between these spaces.

The window separating the kitchen and the bathroom is equipped with (smart glass) technology and allows, by pressing one button, to translate the transparent glass into a matte, opaque glass.