apartment with a total area of ​​115 m2 (Moscow) Boris Valuev, Yuri Egorov

Passing the gallery

A photo: Dmitry Livshits

Text: Natalya Babakhina

Architect: Boris Valuev, Yuri Egorov

Magazine: N10 (77) 2003

A few years ago, an apartment in the so-called Stalinist house was in itself a source of pride for any metropolitan. Today, the situation has changed, and the famous high ceilings and thick walls, almost each of which is equipped with a ventilation stack, no longer meet the needs of a family that keeps pace with the times. According to him, the customer of the reconstruction of one of these apartments did not suit everything: a narrow corridor, a small kitchen and a bathroom, four isolated rooms. Two of them (except for the bedroom and the nursery), the owners wanted to combine - not only with the aim of making a full-fledged guest area with overflowing rooms, but also for visually expanding the space, creating the effect of a larger area. (I must say that the architects managed to increase the space both visually and physically: when the interior partitions were eliminated and the loggia was attached to the kitchen, the living area increased by 5 m²). In the process of combining the kitchen, dining room and living room from the room partition on the ceiling remained a beam height of 70 cm. The beam clearly interfered, and something had to be done with it. In this apartment, the “extra” concrete structure was beaten in an unusual way — turned into a pendant library. Now she connects, rather than separates the two parts of the living room. The beam "prompted" another approach to the architects, which complicated the laconic space of the apartment: suspended wooden structures with built-in lights were built under the ceiling of the bedroom and kitchen. According to the architects, it was possible to visually expand the space at the expense of laconicism in interior design and the maximum stylistic unity of details. In the view of the decor, the authors met with complete understanding from the customer: from the very beginning, he insisted that everything in the interior decoration was functionally justified and reasonable. White was chosen as the main color (ceiling, walls) - the color smoothly moves from one surface to another, visually pushing the combined space of the kitchen, dining room and living room. Special attention should be paid to the doors to the private zone: instead of the doors in the usual sense, we see a flat, tree-lined surface with no obvious signs of any kind of doors. In fact, they are there, but the entrances to the bathroom, the bathroom and the bedroom are marked only with switches - there are no door jambs or handles. The appearance of secret doors in this interior is not accidental. As the authors themselves say: “We ran into this problem when the three doors were near, a meter apart. How to make them not catch the eye? Invented secret: if you push one of the panels, it becomes clear that this is the door This solution, pure from the point of view of functionality, corresponds to the historical context from which we did not want to leave - secret doors have a very long tradition and date back to medieval castle culture. So it turned out to be romantic, aesthetically and functionally. " The stylistic unity of the interior is ensured by the approach of the architects to the materials: the minimalist design concept has allowed to focus on different types of wood, which themselves, due to the rich texture and deep color, bear an independent decorative load. The floors throughout the apartment (except the bathroom) are covered with bleached oak, the baseboards are custom-made to match the floor, the bedroom focuses on a noble chocolate zebrano shade, in the bathroom the tabletop and cabinets are made of wenge. An important feature of the modern interior is the readiness for change: the style, color, furniture, accessories are thought out so that over time it is possible to make adjustments to the existing space. With this approach, the appearance of the apartment acquires a mobile character, it is always possible to change something in it.Boris Valuev: “When choosing an architectural solution for an apartment, neither the customer nor we in our conversations used the word“ minimalism. ”The owner of the apartment sought - and we completely shared his taste - to create the most reasonable and functional space.”