Apartment in the Parterre

This apartment has a completely longitudinal floor plan oriented perpendicular to the façade, measuring 6.2 m wide and 26.6 m deep. The different rooms were originally set out in a row along the corridor, which was a rather dark, oppressive space.

The renovation project was designed to respond to the concerns raised by the owners. The main objectives were to create a fluid space between the living room, entrance hall and kitchen so that they would form one open-plan room while maintaining privacy, as well as to change the appearance of the corridor.

The intervention therefore focused on a new treatment for the entrance and corridor. These areas have ceased to be the ‘dark spot’ in the apartment and have been transformed instead into key features as a result of their aesthetic appearance and role in linking the other spaces. The corridor is no longer dull and dark, nor is it a mere ‘passageway’. It now represents an active part of the new rooms, acquiring new aesthetic and functional value. The double partition wall attached to the party wall allows a sequence of hollows to be created on one side of the corridor, with different functions depending on the space to which they belong. Enlarging the window overlooking the first interior courtyard and installing vinyl-coated glass panes featuring plant motifs around the kitchen workbench provided a source of natural light which did not exist previously.

In the entrance hall and living room, an L-shaped freestanding partition wall measuring 2 m high introduces a visual boundary between the two areas without affecting the fluidity of the space due to the visual continuity of the ceiling.

Another characteristic feature of the apartment is the treatment of the ceilings using plasterboard at different heights, risers, indirect lighting trays and perimeter cavities at the point of contact with the vertical planes. This visual dialogue makes the rooms appear livelier and more spacious.