The owners of the apartment are a young family with two children. The father works in the IT industry, the mother is a lawyer, the son is passionate about chess and mathematics, and the daughter is a young ballerina. The mistress of the house truly loves and appreciates antique furniture and botanical themes in interiors.
Taking a new turn
Before purchasing their new apartment, the family had lived for many years in a neoclassical-style apartment that they had grown very fond of over time. Essentially, they asked us to recreate this style in their new home, with the addition of some moldings. They were clear about avoiding modern elements, minimalism, and bold accents. However, upon visiting the property, we had to regretfully or perhaps joyfully decline their request because on the first floor, in just 60 square meters, we discovered five large square windows that created an entirely different atmosphere and dictated a different style.
We immediately understood that with such characteristics, a “traditional” neoclassical style with purely classical and antique furniture would look out of place. On the other hand, it’s always crucial for us that each of our clients feels “at home” in their new space, not just living in a beautiful but alien interior. Therefore, after much thought, discussions, and with the clients’ great trust in us, we reached a compromise, blending neoclassical elements with furniture that subtly carries mid-century design cues, and complementing it with contemporary art. In the end, we achieved a result that satisfied everyone involved in the project.
The apartment of 115m2 was originally two levels with a second-floor attic. During the design process, we encountered two challenges that partially influenced certain layout decisions: rigid structural constraints for placing the staircase and low attic ceilings on the second floor. From a technical standpoint, our task was to transform a cramped apartment with a “maze-like” layout and low attic ceilings into a spacious, airy space with a functional and convenient layout.
Accepting the challenege
After a meticulous design process, the architects from Arcus Design turned these challenges into advantages. For instance, the staircase, positioned at the center of the kitchen-living room, became the main focal point of the space, serving as a graceful sculptural divider that visually separates the kitchen area from the living area.
In the layout of the attic floor, we took an unconventional approach, shaping the space with complex carpentry elements, which allowed us to divide both children’s rooms into functional areas, creatively addressing their disproportionate sizes and utilizing parts with very low ceilings.
For instance, the boy’s room had a disproportionately elongated shape with a very steep sloping ceiling, where along one wall, the ceiling height was less than 1.6 meters. To balance the space, we designed a custom wardrobe with an unusually deep dimension. The wardrobe divided the room into two zones: a sleeping area and a workspace. On the side of the bed, bookshelves were incorporated into the wardrobe, and there’s ample space behind the hangers for storing toys. The girl’s room also faced the challenge of a drastic height difference in the ceiling. Here, we also designed a uniquely deep wardrobe along the entire wall to even out the height contrast.
The color palette was carefully chosen to embrace a bright and inviting atmosphere since all the apartment’s windows face the courtyard. To avoid a sterile and cold feel, we balanced the monochrome with warm tones of American walnut and oak. In the boy’s room, which has a small window, we used mustard-yellow hues to create the illusion of sunshine rays.
As a decorative technique, in the small guest bathroom, we used aged mirrored panels for wall finishing, which visually doubled the space.
Illusions with art
We must say that in all our projects, we use a lot of art. But here, we went even further and, in addition to traditional paintings and sculptures, decided to place art directly on the furniture and even make it an integral part of the space.
Thus, the sculptural staircase was born, becoming the heart of the project and the most technically challenging element. Due to the house’s construction constraints, the staircase could only be placed in the center of the kitchen-living room. Therefore, our task was to create a staircase that was as light and airy as possible, while maintaining all the necessary ergonomics.
As a result, we designed a semi-spiral staircase and achieved visual lightness and transparency by using metal sheet railings painted in white. This staircase became our “dove of peace,” harmonizing all seemingly mismatched elements. We aimed to give the staircase a highly sculptural appearance, drawing inspiration from the creativity of sculptor Anish Kapoor and Pablo Picasso’s “La Colombe.” Ultimately, the center of the living room now features an allusion to a floating white dove.
The wardrobe facades in the master bedroom and the girl’s room are hand-painted by the artist Sergey Karev with botanical ornament. This technique helped find a compromise between the clients’ desire for botanical-themed wallpaper and our architectural vision for the space.
Another unique interior element is the dining table, specially designed for this project, inspired by the creativity of the genius of Carlo Scarpa. The bright blue color adds a playful touch to the otherwise monochromatic palette, bringing liveliness to the sleek kitchen area.
It was crucial for me to create an interior that resonated with each family member individually. As a result, I believe we achieved a unique and harmonious mix of styles, eras, textures, and materials that pleased everyone in the family.
Fact file:
Name of the project: 2-level apartment
Location: Moscow, Russia
Area: 115 sq m
Type: Residential interior design
Design firm: Arcus Interiors
Lead designer: Garry Grigorian
Photography: Mikhail Loskutov
Styling: Nastassia Korbut
