LOFT F5.04

When the apartment owners had the opportunity to buy an apartment in the former ETA Regula factory, they didn't hesitate for a minute. After a long search for an apartment that would have an interesting and atypical space while being in the wider center of Prague, this was the ideal choice. They also managed to perfectly coordinate everything in terms of timing and agreed with the developer on handing over the apartment in a Shell and Core state, meaning at the absolute minimum for occupancy. Our studio was also approached in advance, allowing us plenty of time to think everything through properly, and at the moment the clients took possession of the apartment, we could start with the modifications.

Upon our first visit to the apartment, we were greeted by an unpleasant surprise: the windows. The original factory-style windows that the developer promised to maintain in the project were replaced with plastic ones. However, since this is a corner apartment and the windows play a significant role here, it unfortunately completely changed its character, even though their size is above standard. My task was therefore to bring back the industrial spirit and, conversely, downplay the windows.

We maximally opened the main living space to the entrance area and highlighted the central column and the ribs stemming from it, which form the basic structure of the entire building and create an interesting pattern on the ceiling. This also influences the overall shape of the apartment, which is not rectangular. We followed this irregularity in the flooring, which consists of two materials - poured screed and wooden planks depending on functional needs - with poured screed at the entrance and in the kitchen, and wood in the hallway, rooms, and the main living area near the TV. The joints of these floors then follow the direction of the ribs. The apartment was meant to feel clean and bright, so the ribs are not revealed on the original reinforced concrete structure, but the basic color was white in this case. We then used concrete only marginally in the form of exposed concrete in the living room behind the TV and on some furniture.

The dominant feature of the main living area became a concrete island. It is traversed by a thin tabletop made of wood and corian, which forms the dining table. The wood stained gray, corian, and concrete are materials that are also repeated in the other furniture in the main living area. The island, as a central point not only of the living room but of the entire apartment, is further emphasized by the atypically designed bar seating in the form of hanging swings, as well as the fact that due to the views in the apartment, one can see through the long hallway right upon entering the apartment.

The element of black ropes flows throughout the apartment, and we can see it both at the entrance, where there is a hanging coat rack, and in the dressing room or as handles on built-in cabinets. The swings and rope suspensions also underline the atypical height of the apartment, which is 3.3m.

As one moves through the apartment, the space feels very clean and bright. In contrast to this is the bedroom and bathroom, where much darker materials are used, also because these rooms serve for rest and relaxation.

The dressing room and wall paneling in the bedroom, which conceals the technical room with a washing machine and dryer, are meant to evoke shipping containers. They are made of plywood, which we only stained in a gray shade.