Nochka

Project Title: Nochka . Rina Lovko brings Japanese minimalism to the typical apartment block in Kiev. . Ukrainian architect Rina Lovko presents a newan apartment of 78 square meters flooded with daylight in a typical building . complex in Kiev. . Initially, the dwelling was full of unnecessary doors, dark corners and was . divided by a heavy wall in the middle. The architect decided to demolish all . the walls and to reassemble the new place from scratch, with no ties to the . initial plan offered by the developer. . Limited by a small area, this project involved complex calculations, unusual . planning methods in order to maximize the use of space without loading it . with unnecessary drawers and dust collectors. Seemingly spacious, this small . apartment for a single man features a storage room for inventory, a laundry . unit with a drying machine, filters for drinking water, and all the necessary . equipment for a comfortable life. . Since the client decided to have the bathroom and the toilet separately, the . architect developed the bathroom space with a particular attention. As a . result, the bathtub located by the window is soaked in daylight, which is . quite unusual for a typical apartment plan in Kyiv. The shower zone is . facing the window, so every morning the client can enjoy the city view while . starting the day. . The bathroom is completed with a sliding mirror door by Rimadesio so the . light from the bathroom would highlight the living room zone and brighten the . northern part of the apartment. . A compact kitchen area is connected to a living room and is placed in an . improvised niche. . In the end, only two doors remained in the whole apartment – in the toilet . and at the entrance, leaving no dark corners in the space. . The wardrobe can be used from the entrance area as well as from the bedroom, . visually separating the bedroom and the hallway. . To expand the space visually the architect used a lot of mirrors in the . apartment. For instance, in the L-shaped corridor, a mirror corner reflects . the wardrobe and makes the space seem square. . Considering the low ceiling in the building, the biggest challenge was to . plan a ventilation system. But lowering the ceiling only in the dressing room . solved the issue. . Constructing a multifunctional wall in the living room allowed installing the . air conditioning system, bio-fireplace, home cinema and sound equipment, . projector, hidden cupboards and dynamic backlighting altogether in one place. . The main light in the apartment is by Deltalight. . The project features only natural materials. The cabinets are finished with . oak veneer, the glass vitrine was made to order from oak and glass, the . wooden bed frame with the sideboards and the window shutters are also tailormade. . The eye-catching panel in the bathroom was created by Anna Krut. The . sofa by Artnova has different layout options and by moving the pillows around . can be easily turned into a guest bed. The kitchen was tailor-made by . . Modulnova, chairs by Menu. . . Location: Kiev . Type: Residential . Area: 78 sq m . Year: 2018 . Design: Rina Lovko . Photo: Lesha Yanchenkov . www.rinalovko.com