Full project description and drawings:

 

Our client purchased this neglected two-bedroom apartment with the intension of carrying out some works to make the place her own. We were appointed to provide our special ‘design+construct’ service to carry out all of the design and construction services in one single package, providing benefits of time and cost savings, and increased quality assurance through our ‘hands on’ control of every stage of the project.

 

Our brief was for a general refurbishment throughout, the creation of a large open living space, a new bedroom suite with en-suite bathroom and walk-in wardrobe, and the replacement of the existing services, all to be done on a very small budget.

 

Minimal reconfiguration of the existing layout provided an opportunity to reclaim some of the wasted corridor space and give it back to the habitable areas. The existing bathrooms, en-suite and utility space were reappropriated to create the large bedroom suite. The kitchen space was made more efficient and opened up to the dining area to create a larger open living / dining space.

 

To break down the existing cellular room arrangement we opened up the corridor to create a connecting spine through the apartment. A large wall of built-in cupboards, bookshelves, drawers and a TV enclosure runs through from the living space, making further use for the corridor, and extending the perception of openness.

 

At the end of the corridor a translucent vertical window connects the bath platform in the en-suite to the rest of the apartment, retaining privacy, while providing various possibilities for atmospheric illumination at the centre of the apartment.