- GASPARBONTA
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2015
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Escenium HAUS, Ivanka, SLV, Teka
Text description provided by the architects. 3 Stories is an apartment converted from a most unusual structure to a contemporary living space.
'I highly doubt, that this apartment can be turned into a decent home' - said a close relative of the owner, seconds after we first saw this place. I hardly agreed. I loved it. Luckily, the owner - a great innovator, a friend and a fellow dino enthusiast - and I were on the same page about the outcome. This was one of the most complicated structures, I have ever seen, covered by numerous layers of human history and unwanted building materials. We had to take the long road and uncover this beauty and turn it to a contemporary home.
Having three stories with one entrance simplifies the question of public and private spaces, naturally the first story became the public zone with the entrance-lobby-kitchen-dining room combo. Since one of the main attractions of the apartment is the incredible roof terrace, located on the third story, we had to connect this to the public zone, while creating a nice quiet private part, a bedroom with its on terrace and a bathroom on the second story. So we went on and created a nice cozy living room underneath the beautiful roof structure, connected with two staircases. This way we have a perfectly fluent connection between all the spaces.
Choosing materials here was really easy, since we had beautiful wooden surfaces, and brick. Adding concrete and iron to the mix was an obvious selection, creating a contrast between the surfaces to highlight the beautiful details was the trick. What amazed me was how the personal belongings of the owner made these spaces complete, fitting perfectly to the concept. I believe this is how a project like this should end - with everything in its right place.
We used a great deal of repurposed old wood for furniture, stairs and wall covering also. This material was originally used in an old building's wooden structural elements. We liked the idea, that old materials can keep being reused as new. Even more interesting when it is next to this house's wooden structural elements.
