WHAT
Apartment
40 m²
WHERE
Sofia, Bulgaria
WHEN
October 2022
The Reimagined “Panelka”
This project was our first encounter with the socialist-era prefabricated concrete panel apartment buildings, known as “panelki,” that formed the architectural landscape in Bulgaria in the 1970s.
photos by Ognyan Stoinev
before and after
Our starting position was a tiny apartment made of precast concrete panels.
Relocating the kitchen area proved to be somewhat challenging, because of the hard concrete floors that we had to drill into in order to install the new plumbing.
entrance situation
As a result of closing off the balcony and incorporating it into the living area, we were able to create a relatively spacious living room, combined with a kitchen, a dining room, a work space, and a reading nook – all within a space of 22.8m2.
entryway
Simple symmetric lines run throughout the apartment.
For example, upon entry the eye immediately beholds the perfect alignment of the separation line between the two types of flooring along the entryway, the track lighting on the ceiling above, and the vertical edge of the brightly painted living room that’s visible from across the hallway.
entrance
The goal was to make this small apartment appear more spacious than its actual square footage, which we achieved by allowing the entryway to flow into the living room unobstructed by any partition walls.
living area
The living room flooring now continues into the entryway, forming one side of the flooring there, which creates the optical effect of a larger living room.
dining
By utilizing symmetry in this way we were able to create a harmonious feel to the whole apartment.
We made sure to use the young owner’s favorite colors - dark blue and dark green - throughout the entire apartment.
bathroom door
bathroom
The bathroom also received a facelift as we repositioned the door, moved the sink, and used that opening to create a space for the washer and dryer.
bedroom
We converted the old kitchen into a cozy 8.8m2 bedroom and relocated all of the much-needed storage space to the hallway.