This is how you can turn a 60 sq. meter apartment into a livable and workable home with style
Italian architecture firm +R Piuerre converted this space in 2015 for a young professional working from home. It was a dental practice and this firm cleverly transformed it into a super-efficient home in Milan.
Their objective was to use as much natural light as possible and they most certainly achieved this.
Well, clearly it can be achieved – this is how they did it…
On the lower floor is a lounge and kitchen/dining room and on the top floor is a bedroom and office. Who would have thought you could all this into such a small space.
The restricted space meant that visual tricks needed to be incorporated to open up the rooms and the use of clever storage formats were used to maximise what room there was.
To make the narrow, dingy entrance more open, a horizontal mirrored strip was added opposite the wood wall paper.
An ingenious idea – coat hooks attached to the wall on the knots of the trees. Camouflage at its best.
The dining table, made from layered wooden panels and supported by two movable trellises, allows the table to be easily moved around according to the configuration needed. The yellow narrow counter next to the sink flows into a seating bench.
The office space and bedroom – which was the attic – are on the mezzanine level.
The mezzanine was created to emphasize the double volume space rather than take up the full portion of the upper floor. It also ingeniously allows for more light flowing through from the skylights to the lower section of the apartment.
The two skylights in the office add extra lighting and the indirect artificial lighting is located in specially built-in recesses.
The office balcony allows the desk to overlook the living area below. The desk wraps around the room and is cleverly supported by the stair handrail.
The bedroom features a built-in wardrobe and a polycarbonate partition closes the room off from the lower kitchen, but allows light to shine down.
The bedroom light can be turned on and off from the kitchen and vice versa. This provides each space with diffused lighting if required.
Ground floor plan
Upper-level floor plan
I think the whole apartment was designed very cleverly. It just goes to show that a stylish yet highly practical office/home can be created in a small space and most of all, filled with light and airiness.
Thanks for reading!
Lea Ann
