#003 Single × Playing with rigid load-bearing structure

1.The trigger: Searching for originality.

Pursue the original.
Ms. T knows a lot about residential design because of the type of work she does. She made a decision to purchase a pre-owned apartment when she realized that there is actually not much difference in amount between the rent that she had to pay each month and the repayment of a loan. Instead of a “renovated house”, she aimed to pursue originality with the ultimate combination of the property she bought and his own unique lifestyle. And so, she came to blue studio for a personal consultation and that was where the story of Ms. T’s renovation with blue studio started.

2.The limitation: Encountering a load-bearing structure apartment.

Encounter with an apartment
Ms. T has longed for a full renovation, demolishing all the partition walls and turning the apartment into a huge studio space. However, the apartment that she purchased was in a load-bearing structure that was difficult to make any huge changes to the floor plan.
We started by figuring out the question “How do you want to live in this apartment?” with him. With the answer provided such as “I want to have a cozy space to chill and read, watch movies, grow plants, and so on.”, we were able to imagine how she would spend his everyday life in this apartment. With the limitation of the load-bearing structure in mind, we have come up with idea that instead of turning the apartment into a huge multi-purpose studio space, we would create multiple spaces that are customized to his lifestyle.

3.Renovation: Playing with the load-bearing wall

Face the wall
Focusing on the question of where and what kind of elements should be placed, and what we could do to make it original, we decided to move on with the direction of inserting different themes into each of the spaces by changing the color of the walls. That allows Ms. T to experience different kinds of moods and atmospheres within the rather compact apartment.

4.Completion: Separating spaces with colors

Creating a room to play with colors
The apartment was separated into 4 main spaces using different colors. An inner terrace in lemon yellow, a theater room in pink, a bedroom in blue, and a kitchen in red. A unique atmosphere was born when these spaces in various themes were put together and talked to each other. By identifying the space with colors, we were able to leave out the installation of doors so that each of the spaces could feel larger than it was.

The first color we have chosen was deep blue for the bedroom. It was to create an atmosphere as if we were diving into the deep ocean. And the following color was lemon yellow for the inner balcony where we aimed to reproduce the atmosphere of the basement found in the movie “Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind”. We imagined the atmosphere that we want to create for each of the spaces and decided on the colors to be used accordingly.

5.New home: Surrounded by Ms. T’s favorite items.

Surrounded by things she like
It is sometimes difficult to change our mood while living in a studio apartment. However, this apartment packed with multiple kinds of moods and atmospheres allows Ms. T to spend a lot of time at home without getting bored. The raw texture and tone of the concrete walls that make the colors seem extra vibrant became one of his favorite things about the apartment. She also enjoys growing his favorite plants and hanging them on the wooden frame installed on the ceiling at the inner balcony.

Besides, bookshelves were installed in the inner balcony, kitchen, and theater room where she can enjoy reading anywhere she wants in different kinds of atmospheres. Even though the use of vibrant colors was often thought to be difficult or even scary, a whole new world was created in this compact apartment using colors in a bold and playful way.