French architects Dank have renovated a 160 square meters garden flat in a residential neighborhood close to Lyon to make it an open-plan apartment.
The plans were designed for a couple with two children who wanted a loft conversion type with efficient use of space. The concept was to open up the ground floor by taking down the existing partitions wall and placing the bed rooms on the upper floor.
On the ground floor the addition of a big grey structure in the middle divides the entrance at one end from a living room area on the other hand. This large grey piece of furniture then structure and give function to the remaining space: a wall of storage near the entrance a laundry and store room in the middle and a library in the more intimate space which is the living room.
The dining room and the kitchen were placed close to the existing French windows facing the city skyline in a double height volume.
The staircase was made from industrial beam (UPM), the step are made out of oak wood and varnished on the spot. The design of the dining table was made to echo the ironwork of the staircase so it doesn’t look like usual furniture but becomes part of the apartment and “structures” the open plan ground floor.
The materials are polyurethane screed for the floor; MDF wood panel and laminated wood for the furniture; corian for the kitchen work plans, assembled parquet for the upper floor and the living room.