Apartment "Circulation" | Dolgopiatova

Apartment for rent.
Design: Oksana Dolgopiatova instagram.com/dolgopiatova_interiordesign
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Area: 154 m2
Year: 2022
Photo Andrey Bezuglov
Art www.shcherbenkoartcentre.com
Volodymyr Budnikov, "Archaic stories", 2017
Vasyl Bazhay, Untitled, 2008
The apartment is located in the historical center of Kyiv. With a view on one side of the National Academic Franco Theater and on the other side of the statue of Independence Square.
The project began a month before the start of the pandemic in 2020. And was completed during a full-scale war in 2022.
This residential building was built in 1909 in functional modern style, and a major reconstruction took place in 1950. After the bombing and fire in 1941.
After this large reconstruction, a large number of additional support beams appeared in the structure, as well as screeds, which we found after dismantling the ceilings and walls. Of course, this could not but affect the layout and decorative solutions for walls or ceilings.
On the facade of the building there are embossed friezes with neo-classical ornamental motifs, some of which I have quoted from inside. In addition, I used the circle shape, since this shape is present on the facade of the building, on the facade of the historical building opposite and of course on the balcony railing.

Then I decided to use some solutions from the old interior in a modern interpretation.
For example, here is a before and after photo. Now it is a home office area. I decided to leave the frame of the window portals, which was done with paint, and now it is oak wood. Also on the ceilings and walls of the old interior there were many decorative cornices and moldings, as well as the “English herringbone” pattern in the parquet, these elements also became the basis for our decorative interior solutions.
In general, the task was to create an intersting modern space using a planning solution and design techniques. But at the same time, in such a space, try to preserve something from history. Quoting techniques as a link with the past.
In old houses like this, the apartments had two entrances (draft and front) and the main feature was the placement of the kitchen and bathrooms as close as possible to the draft entrance and as far as possible from the front. This led to many difficulties in the redevelopment process, since all communications were in accordance with the old type of apartment zoning. The current layout required some adjustments.

Since we first of all had to make the space modern but for connoisseurs of history, we had to find a compromise. The kitchen, which was previously located near the back exit, which was now inaccessible, moved to the living room area, which we of course made as large as possible due to the fact that we combined three rooms and a large long hallway. The kitchen area is located not near the main entrance. But it's not hidden either. It is the heart of the living room, but we tried to fit it in as limitedly as possible, retaining the function, making it light in design in accordance with the whole space.

In general, there are no walls in the common space of the living room, except for the walls with which we separated the guest bathroom, which is not very large, but it has a spacious laundry area behind a sliding system.

The hallway area and the home office area are separated by a double wardrobe up to the ceiling. But in fact, this is a closet-cloakroom and storage room. Inside, it is designed so that both of these functions are inside.
The sliding system between the recreation area and the study area is rather a conditional fence. On the one hand, it was necessary to leave the volume of the entire space visible. On the other hand, create some kind of decorative fence.

The apartment is divided by a very thick load-bearing wall, in which there were only two openings. One near the entrance, but we used it as a niche in the master bathroom. And the second one became a portal that separates the master zone from the front one. The portal-corridor is black, as it is a fast transit point, the geometry of which I did not want to dwell on. The geometry of this small space has a low ceiling. Since we managed to make a second floor in one of the bedrooms.

The master zone, which includes a bedroom, a bathroom and a dressing room, is still the same game with shapes and constructive initial data, but we decided to make it softer in color. Instead of a black and white combination in this zone, we chose the main combinations of chocolate and milk.

In fact, the function of this "Children's" room can be any, depending on who will rent this apartment - we left the choice of furniture on request. But at the same time on the second floor there is a large sleeping place. Colors and decorative solutions remained in the style of the entire apartment, but at the same time remained quite neutral, so that it was possible to complete this room on request for a child of any age. The same can be said about the "children's" bathroom, which is located under the second floor of the "children's" bedroom.

Why "Сirculation"?

In addition to the circle shape that I used in space,
this apartment saw the cycle of the history of the country, the city, the rulers, its inhabitants. The list of prominent people who have lived in this house is impressive. But it remains at the same time "Apartment in the historical center of Kyiv." The best city on earth.