This Refinished Rome Apartment Had Us at Terra-Cotta Tile Kitchen

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Project Details:

Location: Rome, Italy

Architect: STUDIOTAMAT / @studiotamat

Footprint: 1,722 square feet

Contractor: Ciquattro Servizi Edili Srl

Lighting Design: Fabio Silvestris

Photographer: Serena Eller Vainicher / @serenaeller

From the Architect: "Located Tor de’ Cenci, in the southern suburbs of Rome, a brutalist-inspired apartment overlooking the Castelporziano Nature Reserve was turned into a 1,292-square-foot house with large windows and a 431-square-foot terrace that captures abundant natural light and a view of the coast.

"The studio mixes different tones, moods, and textures. The clean and elegant lines balance the raw aspect of the coverings, such as the terra-cotta of the kitchen or the perforated brick wall. The cement on the ground, based on natural hydraulic lime, has an elaborate texture that makes the space vibrate, while the walls and ceilings have been treated with a skim coat lightened with recycled glass microspheres, which makes the surfaces heterogeneous.

"The living area is designed as a loft, a single space with unfinished walls and continuous flooring, which houses the entrance, living room, dining room and kitchen, visually connected by the supporting structure in exposed concrete. As a pivot, an imposing multifunctional cube in birch wood hides inside the pantry, a wardrobe for coats and a bookcase with a TV.

"The dining table has a solid wood top burned using the Japanese shou sugi ban technique and is supported by a cylindrical ceramic leg and two raw iron sheets; the studio desk is movable thanks to a wooden wheel that runs on a track hidden inside the bookcase; the masonry sofa is cut considering the physicality of the owners; the kitchen with the island entirely covered in terra-cotta and a Patagonia marble worktop incorporates two reinforced concrete pillars."