This is not the first time British studio Intervention Architecture has taken on the difficult task of developing a sliding furniture system for a small space. The new owners of this 24-meter apartment approached the architects, inspired by another of their projects in the London suburbs.
They were working on the apartment in Florin Court house, a listed building in the Streamline Moderne style, designed by the architect Guy Morgan in 1936. It had previously served as a maid’s room. The new owners, a couple of artists, decided to give the space a chance and rethink it to make the most of every square meter.
"In this case, we were faced with the task of designing a large number of storage spaces and hiding everything behind cabinet doors to make the apartment seem spacious," say the architects. Thus, the wall on the right conceals a pull-out bed that lowers to the same height as the sofa. The dining table can be disassembled and stored in a wall cabinet, as can four custom-made stools.
The panel on the left with a soft pull-out bench is designed as a workstation, the table panel can be raised and adjusted, turning a regular table into a drafting table. The main open shelving serves as a library for the book collection. The complex structures were partly inspired by the figure of Hercule Poirot, the hero of Agatha Christie's books, who lived in this building in the famous film adaptation.
All the pieces are made of light plywood. The floors were re-sanded and treated to match the furniture in tone, to once again emphasize the visual unity of all the details. But if the main room is designed in calm shades, in the kitchen area (with an area of only 2 square meters!) the architects gave free rein to their imagination. The small space is completely painted in a bright blue, named after the French artist Yves Klein, contrasted by black work surfaces and appliances. Here the architects managed to place a stove, oven, dishwasher, refrigerator, sink, spice rack, and storage space. “Since our clients are artists for whom the use of color is an integral part of the craft, we wanted to emphasize the importance of working with shades in this space,” the team adds.
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