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Architects: Éva Katona, Péter Szigeti & Biljana Jovanović
- Year: 2011
- Photographs: Gerardo Altemir
Text description provided by the architects. This apartment is siutated in a listed building just below the UNESCO protected area of Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary. The client is a young creative family with two children, who planned the refurbishment of the apartment, the stair was designed by Croatian designer Biljana Jovanovic.
The apartment is a duplex with the living space (living room, dining room, kitchen, study) downstairs, and the private spaces with two bedrooms upstairs. The layout of the apartment was kept in its original state. Minimal structual changes were made in order to provide better connection between living and dining room. Since the owners have an exquisite design taste and passion for collecting and refurbishing interesting furniture, the whole apartment is painted white, and the space is accentuated only with indivudual furniture pieces. This ensures harmony between the historic ambiance of the apartment and contemporary aesthetic of its furniture.
Main focus points of the space are huge old window and a newly designed interior stairs. The suspended encasement of the stairs separates the space and provides certain level of intimacy between dining and living room area, without isolating them. The circular perforations on the sides let the sunlight seep through, creating surfaces that change the dynamics of the whole interior. The motif for circles was inspired by large windows that another focus point of the apartment. As they remind a lot of holes in cheese, the project was named Emmental Stairs.
Apart from being used for its original function, this "object" features a playful touch for children as well. It is used as an inspirational toy, that boosts their imagination and develops their creativity.
Due to technical restraints the slope of the stairs had to be kept quite steep. This was somewhat eased through usage of angled treads that complements the visual effect of the stairs.
