Interior design for the renovation of a private residence in a 1930s apartment building in Rome.
Labics’ design responds to a two-stranded brief. On the one hand, the private client was looking to achieve a fluid, continuous open plan space similar to a New York loft, while on the other hand the client still wanted to be able to separate the various areas of the apartment in a more traditional way, whenever needed.
The space is organised around a central thick wall that in itself acts like a container. This wall runs through the apartment longitudinally, dividing – without fully separating – the living areas (dining, living room and studio) from the bedrooms and service areas such as the kitchen. This wall is simultaneously the focal point and key structural element of the project, and is an open container with two ‘fronts’ – the library and bar facing the living areas, and the walk-in wardrobe and storage facing the bedroom and service areas. Black wooden sliding panels are connected to the central wall, allowing – in case of necessity – for complete visual and acoustic separation between the different areas.

Instead of resulting in a neutral effect, this built-in flexibility has become the binding concept for the design, creating a structured space which is functionally and spatially reconfigurable. The sliding walls, niches and unpredictable framing of views allow for different uses and flexible interpretations of the space.