A private sauna with a view of Mokotów, a loggia for yoga, two bathrooms, zoning, colorful solutions and vintage elements. This is how the Warsaw apartment of the Butterfly Studio project looks like. To open up the view to the surrounding lush greenery, architects Anna Baranowska, Joanna Felczuk decided to completely reverse the function from the original layout. The result? See for yourself.
From the apartment you can see the nearby manor house
Photo: Patryk Polewany © Butterfly Studio
The architects divided the apartment, measuring 110 square meters, into two parts—a living/guest area overlooking the vegetation and the manor house, and a private area with a bedroom, dressing room and bathroom with sauna. A major constraint, they say, was fitting in all the necessary functions relative to the existing risers. The interiors are also not high, so to visually elevate them, the authors used doors that reached the ceiling. The moldings were screwed in, and the air conditioning was distributed with ducted radiators hidden in the false ceiling.
One of the living room walls is lined with wood
Photo: Patryk Polewany © Butterfly Studio
From the very beginning, our clients were open to interesting and colorful solutions. We wanted to create a space that was not only colorful, but also homely and elegant. We also incorporated vintage elements into the apartment, such as refurbished chairs from the communist era—the Hałasy, referring in color to the colors throughout the apartment, the architects say.
The homely atmosphere is added by the used wood in a warm shade and plants, while accents of strong color are introduced by paintings by Dorota Dakota Pawilowska.
apartment in Mokotów, projection
© Butterfly Studio
The apartment has two bathrooms—one in shades of blue (private) and the other in pink (for guests). The private bathroom next to the bedroom has access to the sauna. The nursery sauna overlooks both the bathroom and the study area with a loggia.
In order to maintain privacy, we and the investors opted for graphite glass, which gives intimacy. The angle at which we look from the study does not allow us to see the private part of the bathroom with the toilet bowl, the designers explain.
The kitchen uses fluted fronts
Photo: Patryk Polewany © Butterfly Studio
The investor, a yoga enthusiast, wanted the study to be connected to a glass loggia. It serves not only for work, but also for calming down and morning exercises.
The architects paid attention to details and colors
Photo: Patryk Polewany © Butterfly Studio
As in every Butterfly Studio project, the architects paid attention to details. In the kitchen, they used fluted fronts, selected to match the color of the refrigerator and juxtaposed with terrazzo conglomerate on the countertop. Black elements appearing throughout the apartment, such as electrical fixtures and faucets, add character. In the bedroom, meanwhile, pink textured plaster catches the eye, while in the hallway there is microcement on the floor.
blue and pink bathroom
Photo: Patryk Polewany © Butterfly Studio
interview with Anna Baranowska and Joanna Felczuk
Dobrawa Bies: We're talking about a secondary market apartment, what did it look like before the changes you made? What was the biggest challenge?
Anna Baranowska, Joanna Felczuk: The apartment had a reversed functional layout. The kitchen and living room were on the other side, while the investors wanted to move the functions for the sake of the view from the windows. The biggest challenge was to fit and layout the new functions in relation to the existing structure. In addition, the glazed sauna was inserted in such a way that it had a view of the greenery, but at the same time the toilet area was not visible.
The apartment also has a sauna
Photo: Patryk Polewany © Butterfly Studio
Dobrawa: Do you prefer to work in interiors in a shell/development state, or in ones that have already had previous owners?
Anna Baranowska, Joanna Felczuk: We love both :) Of course, there is a lot more work with secondary market investments. On the other hand, metamorphoses give us great satisfaction when we see how much we have improved the standard of living of our investors.
Bedroom, on the wall a painting by Dorota Dakota Pawilowska
Photo: Patryk Polewany © Butterfly Studio
Dobrawa: In the case of this project, did the investors have any suggestions or hints about what they definitely don't want?
Anna Baranowska, Joanna Felczuk: The investors definitely did not want an interior bathed in gray. From the very beginning, they were very open to any suggestions and proposals in terms of form and color scheme.
view from the dining room
Photo: Patryk Polewany © Butterfly Studio
Dobrawa: Your favorite place in this apartment?
Anna Baranowska, Joanna Felczuk: The bathroom next to the bedroom :)
Dobrawa: Thank you for the interview.
