Private house – Verona

residential. The apartment was originally a shop consisting of two overlapping but non-communicating spaces - the window on the ground floor and a cellar in the basement, with different entrances. It is now an apartment of 150 sq. m on two levels with a central courtyard. Located on theedge of the historic centre of Verona in the heart of the Filippini quarter, this studio-home isthe result of some almost archaeological research. The conversion of the shop saved the environment from abandon and transformed it into a distinctive location full of personality. The result is introverted in character, a place where the search for natural light and the aim to optimize the indoor space goes hand in hand with a painstaking study into the ratio between solids and voids, the different levels. The alterations made to the ceiling, and the floor levels, the sloping ceiling with the addition of skylights with glass you can walk on: all help diffuse the light, while at the same time separating the private areas − smaller and hidden − from the public ones. Also carefully studied is the use of colour, with mostly neutral tones for materials and textures; the original walls alternating with white ones; the use of wood for the floors of the home and cement for those of the studio; the details in iron and the sophisticated furniture.There is nothing showy about the decisions taken, though, and some very thorough study and research  has ensured an informal calm, where clarity and  simplicity of language are key factors.The style of the bathroom blends seamlessly with  the rest of the house. The Ottocento bathtub, with its  linear but retro flavour, the capacious Evoluzione EVO-E1 washbasin with sloping side – the programme designed by Benedini Associati that fits into a single element but with different sizes – here is made of wood and fitted with Fez taps, and the highly expressive Nudo mirror.