The apartment before renovation

The apartment was a single space with a mezzanine floor above the bathroom and kitchen.

The apartment before renovation

A staircase with a wooden balustrade connected the two floors. The space was badly distributed, the rooms in a poor state of repair and the whole apartment extremely unhygienic.

Building the new staircase

An open staircase was designed in order to increase the sensation of space in this compact apartment.

Building the new staircase

A large metal panel was fitted to the wall, onto which pairs of rectangular tubes were welded to create the main structure.

The completed metal structure

Wood finish

A wooden box was created for each step. The boxes are in marine plywood veneered on the five sides with the same parquet used for the floor. Each box was then simply slid onto to the metal tubes.

The completed staircase

The staircase seems to be almost transparent, as if the steps were floating in the air. The wooden finish is the same as the parquet floor, providing a sense of continuity. The handrail is made of a simple metal tube, finished in corten, to avoid a visual division of the space.

Detail

A recessed wooden moulding frames the kitchen unit. The staircase, formed by cantilevered steps with no riser, appears transparent allowing the spaces and details of the finish to be seen.

The kitchen

The use of open elements – the cantilevered staircase without risers, the metal handrail, the built-in but open kitchen unit, the wood finish used in the various rooms and in the vertical structures, and the lime veiling on the walls – gives the sensation of spaces that appear to be spread out while at the same time being closely interconnected.

Profile of the kitchen frame (left) and of the bookcase

In the living area, the kitchen unit and the bookcase face each other, both set within a niche. A special frame was designed to embellish them, creating a connection with the walls and between the two elements. The frame used for the kitchen unit is recessed while the frame around the bookcase is in relief. The frames were designed in such a way as to hide the seams between the various segments.

Detail of the bookcase frame

The bookshelf is framed by a shaped wooden element positioned as a negative version of the element framing the cooking unit. The composition is completed with two wall lamps: metal angels holding semicircular lampshades.

The living area

Before and after.

The bedroom

The room, of modest size, features walls with a velarium design dating from the late 1940s. Neglect and damage to the roof had caused large areas of colour to be lost from the walls and completely lost from the ceiling. The restoration of the walls consisted of consolidating what remained while avoiding the addition of new elements. The ceiling has been recreated using two simple diagonal elements with white curtains to form a gazebo with a floral decoration at its centre.

The bathroom

The bathroom features a shower base flush with the floor with a lateral drainage channel: this is to avoid the classic ceramic base with a step dividing the space. The floor is in hand-planed oak, and the walls in wide porcelain stone tiles to increase the sense of space, while a floor-to-ceiling mirror provides depth.

The bathroom

The support for the washbasin consists of a core in marine plywood veneered with the same wood as the parquet; a central vertical element conceals the siphon and supports the open shelves on either side.

The second bathroom

The walls and floor of the second bathroom are covered in anthracite black porcelain stone tiles in various shapes and sizes; the ceiling is in black enamel. These features contrast with the sanitary fittings, the taps and the washbasin top consisting of a curved shelf (that provides space for the door to open), and a core in marine plywood veneered with dried bamboo strips. The shower is an open compartment with a fixed glass partition; the base is flush with the floor and features a lateral drainage channel.

Balcony before restoration

The exterior features two balconies in Istrian stone. They were in extremely poor condition with many segments on the verge of collapse, so much so that some of the balusters were held together with a television cable.

Before and after restoration

The restoration process involved cleaning the stonework, removing the plastering and additions, eliminating the metal parts, consolidating the structure with the insertion of steel bars and injections of epoxide resins, cleaning with demineralized water and sorghum brushes, and finishing with lime and powdered marble plastering to match the colour of the Istrian stone.