009. M & J Apartment or a Flat For Three Humans And A Cat
Apartment Renovation
Kypseli, Athens
Status: Complete
Photography: Jodie Southgate
Located in Kypseli, on the first floor of an inwards-facing apartment, MJA is a 90sqm apartment for a family of three and a cat.
Previously, the apartment was dark, with segregated rooms where the only south facing window was in the kitchen.
The main design drive was to maximise natural light in all main rooms whilst creating a flexible, yet organised series of spaces for the growing family.
The floor plan was reworked in a way that would create an open plan living, cooking, and dining space. This move allowed for natural light to enter the apartment most times of the day, as well as enabling cross ventilation of the apartment.
In the absence of partition walls, a series of inhabitable wooden furniture were created instead, housing different activities and storage solutions such as a place to leave one’s shoes, piano playing, watching TV or working on the computer, while the cat has access to different seating and viewing points.
All added furniture is finished in ash veneer, pistachio, and white lacquered wood in order to give way to the prominent patterns of the existing terrazzo floors.
The focus on mineral materials is enhanced by a careful selection of different marble elements across the flat; Deep red Ritsona marble is introduced in the kitchen, whereas the floor gaps created by demolished walls have been filled with Volakas and Tinos marble.
The bathroom is clad in cotton colored mat tiles that create a warm background to the reclaimed Naxos marble used in the shower.
Different tactile qualities occur from the interplay of the materials’ different textures (lacquered versus brushed wood, raw versus polished marble), resulting in a series of original elements, which together aspire to become a solid yet inspiring backdrop to the couple’s adventures into family living.
