Flat in Black

Author: HEIMA architects (Kristijonas Skirmantas)
Location: Polocko g., Vilnius, Lithuania
Area: 80 m2
Photos: Darius Petrulaitis
Originally 2-bedroom apartment was converted into a single bedroom flat. The extra space was given to the living room. A complex geometry of living room was simplified by introducing a diagonal wall. This diagonal direction became the main feature of the living room. Floor direction, furniture and lighting are all aligned to the given diagonal angle. The diagonal wall also allowed the wardrobe layout in the bedroom to be more functional – more depth was given to the walk-in wardrobe and less depth was used for a regular wardrobe.
The original apartment plan featured a chimney shaft, but the client did not want a fireplace. The chimney shaft was extended to form a bigger volume that helped to shape a separate entrance zone. This central volume houses a mirror, shelves, utility closet and a fridge. Moving the fridge out of the kitchen niche allows a strictly horizontally oriented kitchen furniture design without any vertical furniture where typically fridge is.
The apartment was given dark grey, almost black color, so the limits of the room dissolve in the shadows. Bright saturated colors of the furniture put accents in the space. The spotlights highlighting the colors and the shapes. The contrasts between light and shadow, saturated color and black all together create a theatre-like feeling.