Houzz Tour: Inherited Home Gets a Bright New Life
The design pays homage to the property’s historic setting and packs lots of function into 592 square feet
The Palevsky residential complex in St. Petersburg, Russia, was originally constructed in 1925-28 to house factory workers. The owners of this apartment in the historic garden city inherited it from their grandmother and, though they had been living in Canada, decided to hold on to the property and bring it back to life. They turned to architecture and design firm Duga Studio for help.
Before: “We had to practically rebuild the home from scratch on the inside: Take the old floors down to the substrate and rebuild them, strip the plaster down to the brick, replace all of the plumbing and wiring,” Dubrovsky says. “But this is often what architects and construction crews have to deal with when working on old housing stock.”
After: Since the space is divided in half by a load-bearing brick wall with a built-in chimney, radical changes to the layout were not an option. The shared space was changed the most: Dubrovsky connected the kitchen and the living room and added a guest toilet. The bedrooms kept their old footprints. In the end, the team managed to fit two bedrooms, two bathrooms and an open-plan kitchen-living room into less than 600 square feet.
At their first meeting with Dubrovsky, the clients made it clear that they prefer bright interiors with color accents and dislike beige and brown palettes. Otherwise, they gave the designer complete freedom.
Dubrovsky says he designed the interior in a unique style “that comes out of the architectural context but still fits the present day. And — for me this is the most important thing — it includes well-thought-out architectural detail,” he says. “The interior has become an extension of the place where it is located.”
Dubrovsky says he designed the interior in a unique style “that comes out of the architectural context but still fits the present day. And — for me this is the most important thing — it includes well-thought-out architectural detail,” he says. “The interior has become an extension of the place where it is located.”
In the kitchen and living room, the designer and clients had a choice: Either divide the already small space into two small rooms with limited options for placing furniture or create a comfortable if compact open plan. The clients chose the second option.
To address safety issues related to introducing gas appliances in an open space, they installed detectors and appliances with auto shutoff features.
The family usually eats in the kitchen, and a section of the countertop was integrated into the windowsill to create a dining area. It flows seamlessly into the peninsula that divides the kitchen from the living room.
The owners bought a transformable table for entertaining: It may look like a coffee table in this photo, but its height and shape can be changed. Fully unfolded, it seats six.
The apartment is on the ground floor, and there are bars on the windows. Their design echoes the geometry of the fence around the estate, nodding to its history. Shutters provide elegant privacy.
The apartment is on the ground floor, and there are bars on the windows. Their design echoes the geometry of the fence around the estate, nodding to its history. Shutters provide elegant privacy.
To underscore the connection to the locale, most of the furniture is from local manufacturers. Almost all the light fixtures were manufactured by Handle Studio, which uses handblown glass and its own crafted brass structures. All of the artwork in the house is by young St. Petersburg artists.
Before: Here’s part of the living room before the renovation.
After: The original stove, which had been the main source of heat for the apartment when it was first built, unfortunately could not be preserved. The team replaced it with a rotating stove from Nordica.
They also cleaned the chimney and installed a more efficient flue and an ash box for servicing.
They also cleaned the chimney and installed a more efficient flue and an ash box for servicing.
Before: On the other side of the load-bearing wall are the bedrooms: one for the owners, the other for their daughter. The entrances to the bedrooms are seen here.
After: The bedrooms feature spacious built-in storage units that frame the doors and windows to make the most of the space.
The top and middle sections of the storage unit fronts are mirrored to visually expand the space.
As in the kitchen, the storage unit in the daughter’s room includes a countertop integrated into the windowsill.
The storage units were made to order in St. Petersburg.
Freestanding furniture was mostly bought off the shelf.
Before: This bathroom has two small windows, which bring in fresh air and natural light.
The team was able to include a spacious shower, sectioned off by a metal-and-glass divider. This echoes the screen between the entry and the living room.
A stacked washer and dryer were installed in the guest bathroom, which also offers storage for laundry items.
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Apartment at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of three
Location: The historic Palevsky Housing Estate in St. Petersburg, Russia
Size: 592 square feet (55 square meters)
Designer: Dmitry Dubrovsky of Duga Studio
This housing complex, composed of two- and three-story homes connected like townhouses and surrounded by gardens, brings the idea of a garden city to life. The historic site is a listed property, so it was important to get the right approvals for the renovation.
“The flat hadn’t been renovated in a long time, but its best feature was its historic potential,” designer Dmitry Dubrovsky says. “That’s why most of our techniques were aimed at preserving its genius loci,” or its prevailing character.