- Interior
WS House is a project designed by Men Bureau. A few years ago, a couple found a charming old house not far from Kyiv. It was only intended to be a country retreat, a place to escape the city at the weekends. Then came the pandemic and this couple got a taste for country life. For most of their time, this is now their home.
Men Bureau was founded by Oleksandr Maruzhenko. For him, designing is always a dialogue. Each project is unique and always responds to the conditions of the space and is inspired by the individuality of his clients. Maruzhenko creates neutral and aesthetic spaces that succeed in emphasising textures, light and constructive details, and which form the basis for pure and timeless design.
A warm and timeless home in harmony with the past.
The most recent project by Men Bureau is called WS House. The house is surrounded by a unique terrain in which the colours of the house merge into the surroundings. Being connected to nature was the owners' greatest wish, so this also became the primary goal of the design. Natural light is used in every room to create a spacious atmosphere and maximise the view outside. Each room is picturesque, each in its own way, yet modest and connected to the other. Men Bureau also rearranged some of the rooms, for example, the living room was moved to where the dining room used to be, as it is located at the beginning of the house and therefore now has a more logical layout. The eye-catcher of this project? The Bocci 57 pendant lamp in the living room. This striking piece breaks up the light through the curves of white glass. A cluster of no fewer than 25 lamps dangling from the ceiling and, despite their asymmetry, give space and create feeling and balance. 
The interior of the house has a strong focus on natural materials and texture. The floorboards are European oak and were carefully finished on site with a black resin. Deep wood is the dominant flooring in this house. The owner is an art collector and is only too happy to display his native Ukrainian works by Faina. This forms a contrast to the raw ceramics as a hallmark of the Wabi Sabi style. For Men Bureau, it was important to get to know the house they work with, this gave them a kind of guide in which direction to go. But it was important that it didn't feel like a museum. This house may have been built 50 years ago, but we are living in 2021. So the design studio had to find a balance between preserving the history of the house and making it livable and adaptable to the way our clients want to live. The result is a warm-minimalistic and timeless house in harmony with the past and the needs of the client. 
Images courtesy of Men Bureau