EGUILUZ

 "functional minimalism" a complete makeover of an apartment, Malaga

A bright and functional apartment, such was the wish of the client, a retired couple, for this transformation in a popular district of Malaga. The apartment was very partitioned, cluttered with doors and equipped with two badly used shelves. The intervention consists of opening up the space as much as possible, enlarging the living room and combining the three very small original bedrooms into two. Regarding the envelope, the walls on the facade side are lined with fine insulation and double-glazed windows are installed. The challenge is to keep it as simple and rational as possible given an extremely tight budget. The heart of the space is an airlock which distributes the bedrooms and the shower room on one side and the day area on the other. The ceiling of this airlock is lower to mark the transition between the spaces but also to integrate the air conditioning by ducts. All the existing corridors are reduced to a minimum and the shelves are taken inside to enlarge the living room and the kitchen. The plan of the day space is semi-open, a completely open plan not being possible due to a supporting pillar and vertical ducts. The day space is structured around a rectangular island block, separating the kitchen on one side and the dining room and the living room on the other. A multifunction and minimalist unit emerges from the entrance wall to the facade, encompassing not only the kitchen function but also that of the laundry room, storage and a multimedia point. A wardrobe and water heater are integrated into an existing niche at the entrance. Everything is designed with the idea of ​​minimizing loose furniture to a minimum. The atmosphere is Nordic-inspired and uncluttered, the colors are clear to provide maximum brightness. The lightly bleached oak floor is installed on the existing Terrazzo floor, which after demolition of the walls had too many differences in level to be preserved. Shades of white dominate the smooth walls and sandstone coverings. These are embossed in the shower room and in a marble pattern in the kitchen. Touches of color mark only the transitional spaces, red-orange for the entrance and gray-blue for the airlock.

PHOTOS BEFORE TRANSFORMATION