We were commissioned to convert a derelict office space on the top floors of a 1720s townhouse in Stockholm’s medieval old town Gamla Stan into two contemporary loft apartments, each measuring 200m2, suitable for modern life without losing the charm embodied in this historic building.
Together with conservation specialists, we worked within listings regulations, starting by stripping back layer upon layer of contemporary additions that had masked the original interior of the penultimate floor of the Grade-II listed building for decades, revealing the bones of the building, such as the structural beams and arched entrance way.
Working around irregular floors, walls and ceilings, we created an interior fit for modern living, meeting new build standards demanded by Swedish regulations, in just eight months. Due to the single level and constraints around moving walls, we took a relatively traditional approach resulting in a more conventional layout, with three separate bedrooms and a family bathroom as well as the interconnected kitchen and living room. A traditional sloping Scandinavian woodburning stove, complete with its original idiosyncratic chimney breast, provides a focal point for the room.
White walls and pale wooden floors were chosen as materials that were both sympathetic to the historic building and its legacy and had the quality and durability to last long into the future. We liked the idea of contrasting the use of wood with a more solid and indulgent, but equally natural, material that we could use for all the surfaces in the bathrooms and wet rooms, and for that reason we added marble as a luxurious accent material.