Pushka Apartment is a stunning stone apartment located in Kyiv, Ukraine, designed in 2018 by Balbek Bureau.

Description
We were commissioned to design an apartment for a young, sophisticated, single professional, where he can enjoy his life either alone, or with a partner.
Preliminary assessment of a two-level, 180-sq.m space in a listed building in Kyiv revealed original brickwork hidden under layers of plaster, old timber ceiling joists, and sloped walls in the attic.
CHALLENGES:
When we work in a historically significant building, we always try to preserve, restore and use as many original features as possible. We believe they create a genuine authentic background while emphasizing, by contrast, the purity of modern forms, shapes, and textures introduced by the architects. Finding the right balance between the old and the modern while preserving the integrity of the entire space was our first challenge.
We decided to avoid bright colors, so our next challenge was to create a mixture of diverse architectural elements united by a monochrome palette.
Finally, we wanted to come up with innovative architectural solutions that would sustain the passage of time.
SOLUTIONS:
We started with bringing to light and restoring the old brickwork, ceiling joists, and metal beams.
The timber joists were cleaned and coated with lacquer. We were able to keep 90% of the original joists.
We took time to handpick the replacement bricks for the walls and scutche...