RE/IMAGINED

FROM WORKSHOP TO HOME: A RENOVATION SHAPED BY THE SPACE ITSELF

When we first stepped into what is now our apartment, it was hard to imagine living there. The space had been an old workshop, long abandoned and left in ruins—dark, damp, and cluttered with the remains of its industrial past. But beneath the dust and decay, I saw potential: the generous proportions, the raw materials, the traces of a history worth preserving.

Rather than starting with a fixed plan on paper, this became a project built through direct dialogue with the existing space. We worked by being there, walking through each corner, and letting the building reveal what it needed. Decisions were made in real time: which walls to demolish to open up the flow of light and air, which ones to keep for their character or structural importance, and how to adapt to unexpected discoveries along the way.

Our goal was to create a home that felt open, bright, and deeply connected to our lifestyle. The kitchen—our social and functional heart—was placed at the very center, so that cooking, conversation, and movement naturally radiate through the apartment. A large patio became the extension of our living space, blurring the line between indoors and outdoors and giving us a private connection to the sky.

The design balances industrial aesthetics—a nod to the building’s workshop origins—with the warmth of original features. We kept the exposed wooden beams for their texture and history, preserved the stone walls for their depth and solidity, and left certain surfaces raw to remind us of the space’s past life. The result is a mix of honesty and comfort: an apartment that celebrates imperfection, age, and material truth, yet feels inviting and adaptable to the rhythms of daily life.

For us, this renovation was more than just a design exercise—it was a process of listening. Listening to the building’s story, to the way light moved across the rooms, to how we wanted to live there. The home we created is not a blank slate, but a layered space where past and present coexist, open to whatever the future brings.