- Interior
- Architecture & development
Sometimes the old must make way for the new in order to obtain the best result. That is exactly what happened with Olly Apartment in Ukraine. This outdated residence not only received a new look but underwent a whole metamorphosis.
Olly Apartment is a project in Kyiv by Hi atelier. The studio was founded in 2020 by architect Ihor Havrylenko and focuses on residential and commercial interiors, as well as industrial design. Their projects always align with their mission to create timeless designs that contain harmony and sensory experiences. Moreover, they highly value the personal and individual connection with a specific design aesthetic. In the case of Olly Apartment, everything revolves around an ascetic minimalism that is combined with a vintage influence. The goal of this renovation project was to create an excellent rental apartment. The team of Hi atelier did background research on the neighbourhood in which the residence is located, namely Podil. This historical area has become a meeting point for different styles, among which Ukrainian Baroque and modernism. In the end, the studio decided to combine modern materials and techniques with vintage objects and recycled elements in this project. 
The former tiny bedroom was replaced by a more spacious version that also has an adjacent dressing. An interesting detail is that the entrance to this extra room was given the form of a secret door that makes the space appear more minimalistic. Hi atelier tried to construct a hotel feeling by restricting the visual lines from the bed to the view from the window. Moreover, the current bedroom has room for a study with bureau and a vintage stool from Ludwig Mies van der Rohe from 1927. Not only the bedroom, but also the bathroom was redesigned to a larger version. Here, the design is likewise simple and thoughtful. For example, in the bathroom you can find a built-in bathtub and a vintage console with stone top. Thanks to the light stone texture, this room is somewhat similar to a cosy cave.
A cosy emptiness prevails here.
The central living space was carefully converted as well. Here, you find the dining area, the kitchen and the living area, and besides in the form of one open space. According to Hi atelier themselves, a cosy emptiness prevails here. Namely, the team found it important that a smaller space does not overwhelm and leaves room for your own thoughts and daydreams. For the same reason the lighting was incorporated in the ceiling, which leads to a clean and more spacious result. Concerning the furniture, in the living area they chose the Node sofa from Propro and the Node fauteuils from Nata Kurilenko. If we may believe the team of Hi atelier, the showstopper of this project is the dining area. Here, they placed a wooden dining table that they found at a flea market and RMT6 chairs of Rudi Merz in a lighter colour. The two different colours of wood create a playful contrast that adds an extra dimension to the room. 
Olly Apartment is the ideal proof that older buildings can be unrecognizably converted to a modern piece of design art. With this project, Hi atelier clearly shows what they are worth. We are curious about future projects of this studio where modern design pieces mix with recycled objects.
Images courtesy of Hi atelier