This city apartment in a prominent downtown location marketed by a general developer was to be reviewed pending customisation and optimisation of the floor plan at the express wish of the client - a cosmopolitan couple. During project realisation the scope was gradually extended to include interior design aspects. The desire was for an essential architecture with a touch of Italian modernism of the 1920s - Palazzo style - to give the flat a representative flair.

In close coordination with the client high-quality furniture pieces, both individual and built-in, were designed and created, as was the installation of characteristic wall coverings, always reflecting the various specific requirements of the spaces in question. Working closely with selected tradesmen, the resulting sophisticated and unique pieces underpin the intended representative character of the functional areas.

Individual features include the fabric wall-coverings, with metal edging in the study, juxtaposed with wall areas boasting acrylic-mastic finishes and cabinet inserts of high-gloss varnished fine woods. The metal wall in the entree is a further highlight. The walls were finished with multiply-folded and indirectly illuminated panels of etched metal sheeting. A narrow frieze reiterates the wave-like patterns of the Italian marble floor. One counterpoint is a bronze-mirrored panel hiding all technical and utility connections and distributors.

Additional bronzed metal surfaces and metallised pilaster strips are also integrated in the artisan cabinets in the dining room, this time finished with a craquelure effect (broken paint flakes on canvas) and the hand-built vanity unit in the master bathroom, interplaying with a platinum-coloured metal troweled coating. The impressions of metal are a recurring-material, reappearing throughout the interior design, in changing contexts with various materials and surfaces.

A lighting designer helped develop the lighting concept - the original electrical plans proposed by the general planner were conceptually appended and customised. The sanitary area was upgraded and extended with comprehensive, tailored interior fittings to reflect the personal wishes and ideas of the client.

Family life is centred in the dining and living area featuring a gas fireplace combined in the furniture and visible from three sides with the added attraction of an integrated flat screen which can be hidden at the touch of a button behind flush wall paneling.

Photos: Marc-Oliver Schulz