Bold & Intuitive: Compact Apartment in Katowice by Mistovia Studio.

Nowadays, there is no shame in living in a neighbourhood made up of blocks of flats. Such a location can have many advantages, like this apartment with a 13th floor view in the very centre of Katowice. The question is – how to make an apartment fully functional and modern, without losing its character? Mistovia Studio stand up to this challenge by creating a compact interior full of colour and ingenious solutions.

Barely measuring 35sqm, the original space was crammed with two tiny bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom and a small balcony — not an uncommon sight during the Polish communist times. Mistovia demolished all the partition walls to form one bright open plan interior.

“We found the original floor in a state of utter distress. Unfortunately, we had to destroy it all and prepare new screed. We settled on semi-dry concrete, which we then polished and lacquered. Dilatation was finished with brass accents for contrast,” explain the designers. The concrete — even though fitting in a building constructed from reinforced concrete — gives the interior a rough, industrial character, while the décor brings warmth into the space.

The main idea behind the design was to create two furniture units holding all of the necessary functions. The first one was placed in the kitchen and entrance area. The black box made of elegant, matte laminate functions both as the kitchen and the antechamber. Aside from the fridge, dishwasher and microwave, the kitchen also holds the washing machine with storage space to spare. The light, oak chairs in Visu Wood by MUUTO stand out against the dark cupboards and matching round, black table — its base made of a construction pipe.

The expressive graphics by Paulina Żmuda — a young graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow — is the definite cherry on top while black ceiling lamps by Polish brand Chors create a visual link between the kitchen and the living space area.

Facing the living room is an open bedroom with a vibrant maroon panelling and the bathroom. The latter is hidden within an effective cubicle, completely covered by burl lining. This rare kind of wood which had reached the peak of its popularity during the communist times in Poland, is the effect of a tree’s disease. The trunks of affected trees are covered in growth, which expands rapidly and in unexpected directions. When cut, fantastic decorative patterns full of winding lines, veins, and colourful spots are discovered. “We selected the burl ourselves, even before it could be tended to by a carpenter. The main difficulty was that this kind of wood usually comes in smaller pieces, while what we needed was long strips of veneer — we wanted to avoid horizontal connections at all cost,” explain the designers.

A burl lining in a 70’s flat is not only a subtle nod towards the interior design characteristic for those times, but also a quite sensible solution in a small space. The unit in the bedroom fits a wardrobe and a closet, and the in-built bathroom door is almost completely hidden amongst the glamorous pattern of wood grains. The main role in the bathroom is played by Italian tiles by Fioranese, a big, round mirror and a small cabinet that matches the colours of the bedroom’s wall panelling.

Envisioned for short stays, the interior is bold and intuitive. Mistovia have managed to maintain a pleasant balance between modernism and history — without the unnecessary need to hide the truth about the flat being a part of a bigger block. There is, after all, no shame in it.

Related: Eclecticism Meets Vintage: Katowice Apartment by Mistovia Studio.

[Images courtesy of Mistovia Studio. Photography by ONI Studio.]