3 Vaults

For the refurbishment of this small apartment R3 Architetti used concrete and wood to define the spaces characterized by three vaulted ceilings.

We have been asked to reconfigure the interior of a three-room apartment of about sixty square meters in Turin to accommodate a new type of home who could also function as Airbnb.

The new plan layout emphasizes the three vaults that crown the entire volume of the house: two of them frame the living area and one the bedroom and bathroom area.

By cutting the septum that divided the two northern vaults, the living area takes a diagonal orientation that expands the perception of space. This axis scheme is further emphasized by the geometry of the sofa and by the wooden niche that outlines the study area and gives access to the bedroom and bathroom.

The kitchen, made with reinforced concrete cast on site and oak doors, divides the dining room from an extra area used as utility and store room. The dialogue between different materials defines the dining area: concrete and wood for the kitchen, exposed concrete for the walls, zinc-coated steel pipes and wooden top for the table. The studio niche leads to the space held within the third vault where the bedroom and the bathroom are: this area is divided by a septum which maintains the space continuum at the ceiling level. On this third vault the original 1905 decoration has been brought back to the surface.