April 6, 2018

Text: Jesse Dorris

SMLXL Gives a Prague Apartment the Blues

In the living room, a sofa by BoConcept picks up the blue paint of the brick feature wall. Photography by BoysPlayNice.

For an apartment in Prague, so completely up-to-date that only its original clad windows remained, developers and the local firm SMLXL decided to go back to basics for the interiors.

Blue returns in Archtiles mosaic tile around the bathtub. Photography by BoysPlayNice.
The kitchen is largely black and white Corian, with a stained solid-oak dining table inserted into an island and DKW chairs by Vitra. Photography by BoysPlayNice.

“We liked the old windows,” says SMLXL architect Klára Valová, “so we decided to combine the old elements with the loft style.” A minimalist palette of black and white puts emphasis on details like the customized casing door and large-scale parquet flooring.

Custom wardrobes in the bedroom feature rope for handles. Photography by BoysPlayNice.
A concrete chair sits in front of a custom steel mirror that hides the electrical switchboard. Photography by BoysPlayNice.

Sleek solutions like a black box that connects the entry hall to the living room incorporates storage for shoes and coats on one side, and kitchen appliances on the other. For a hint of grittiness, Valová and team juxtaposed white lacquer cabinetry in the kitchen with sheets made from hot-rolled steel and rebar, used to create a library and dining table.

The team fashioned a library wall from rebar. Photography by BoysPlayNice.

Bold pops of blue across the living room and in the bathrooms add drama. The scheme continues with the living area’s brilliant oversized sectional, the perfect spot to pull out a phone and operate the apartment’s futurist smart home system, which can turn on the oven or turn off the heat.

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