Architect Rients Bruinsma built every element of his loft-style Shoreditch flat from scratch
It must be immensely satisfying to take an entirely blank space, and to build from scratch every wall, door and cabinet to your exact specifications. That is what Dutch architect Rients Bruinsma has done with his own Shoreditch flat, a loft-like space that he has formed into a comfortable apartment that perfectly suits his needs.
Rients bought the flat in a former warehouse 10 years ago, and was only its second owner after the building was developed. "It was pretty awful when I found it," he says, "all laminate flooring and light maple cabinets. I just ripped everything out." Aiming to create a loft-like space, Rients took out all of the partitions in the flat, including the one at the back that created two bedrooms. The flat is now open-plan, with a bedroom and sitting room at the back, a bathroom constructed in the middle, and a kitchen/dining room/workspace at the front, with the kitchen cleverly built onto the outside wall of the bathroom. "It wasn’t a complicated renovation," says Rients, "I’m used to much more challenging things in my architecture practice." It's also a far cry from his house in Holland, a listed building that (by and large) is much more traditional in feel.
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Although the flat is spare and minimal in one sense, it also feels interesting and atmospheric, and in large part this is due to Rients' approach to the bones of the space. The loft-like effect has been achieved by the addition of a screed floor, with underfloor heating so there are no unsightly radiators to intrude onto the walls. The ceiling was stripped back to its concrete surface, and walls back to the brick. These textures are crucial to making the flat feel, as Rients expresses it, "significant." The predictable white walls and ceilings and the cheap wood of its former incarnation were inconsequential, but now everything has an interesting surface, with walnut and marble making up the internal divisions in addition to the brick and concrete of the flat itself. "These materials are what gives the flat its atmosphere," he explains.
The flat has a simple, modern, uncluttered look, which doesn't come easily in a small space, and owes much to the cleverly designed storage concealed in the walls. In the sitting area at the front of the flat, Rients has built a steel cabinet into the wall to conceal the boiler and the gas meter; a daybed is built in front of it, and there are shelves above for books. The bathroom is a completely clad on the outside in stained walnut, allowing an efficient kitchen with storage up to the ceiling to be built onto the front, and more storage has been built onto the back for clothes. "If you want to have flat like this," note Rients, "you need to have a lot of storage. When you can't shut any doors and hide things away, everything is on view to everyone."
In an uncluttered apartment, every piece of furniture makes an impact. Rients designed some of it himself, such as the armchair in the sitting room, and the sideboard in the dining room, made from the same Corten steel as the boiler enclosure that faces it. Modernist Brazilian design is well-represented, as Rients' husband is Brazilian and he has travelled there frequently. The desk was designed by Sergio Rodrigues, and its chair by Joaquim Tenreiro. "I found it in a shop in Rio and decided to take it back on the plane with me, which was a challenge," says Rients. As with the surfaces of the flat, the materials of the furniture are luxurious and consistent with each other. Silk carpets soften the screed floor, suede covers the sofa and the headboard of the bed, and rich woods, macassar and marble can be found throughout.
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Of course the main material statement in the flat comes in the form of the bathroom, a box constructed entirely from Calacatta Gold marble in the centre of the space. " The bathroom is insanely busy at first sight, and when people walk in they are so surprised, but then they love it. If you’re there for a while it stops being busy, because the pattern is so consistent throughout, and it becomes calming." The bathroom was perhaps the most satisfying part of the project for Rients. "As an architect I'm used to following my clients' wishes, doing things that are quite trendy and of-the-moment, and that's how it should be of course. But the beauty of doing my own flat is that I have carte blanche."
Rients Bruinsma: rients.com
James McDonald1/11A daybed has been built into this space at the front of the flat, in front of a Corten steel enclosure which hides the boiler. The bed is upholstered in a rough grey linen. The desk is by Sergio Rodrigues and the chair is a Joaquim Tenreiro design.
James McDonald2/11The rest of this part of the flat is occupied by the dining area and kitchen. The sideboard was also made in Corten steel.
James McDonald3/11The dining table is a 1970s Italian design by Angelo Mangiarotti, made in Travertine marble, and was a present to Rients from his family and friends on his 40th birthday. present from all my friends and family for my 40th birthday, made in Roman Travertine marble. The chairs were custom-made in Portugal as versions of the Tenreiro chair by the desk. On top of the sideboard is a lamp from the flea market in Paris, also in Travertine marble, a drinks tray and a print of a design by the Brazilian tile designer Athos Bulcão.
James McDonald4/11The walnut kitchen was built onto the outside of the marble bathroom. Although it takes up little space, it includes a dishwasher and washing machine hidden behind the cabinets.
James McDonald5/11"It looks almost like it could be a bar," says Rients, "but I cook huge meals here and I manage perfectly well."
James McDonald6/11To ensure privacy while still retaining a feeling of openness, Rients had a set of tall doors made in a bronze finish by a metalworker in London.
James McDonald7/11At the back of the flat, light streams in through the huge windows. The sofa and ottoman are both upholstered in suede. A head of Artemis from the Acropolis Museum, with a custom macassar plinth, stands on top of a side table by Eileen Gray.
James McDonald8/11Rients raised the fire at this end of the room up, creating a box out of Corten steel that also serves as a side table for the armchair. The floor lamp is a design by Nahoor.
James McDonald9/11A 1960s Italian dresser bought on the Pimlico Road divides the sitting room from the sleeping area. 1970s chrome lamps, which feature throughout the flat, stand by the bed on macassar tables.
James McDonald10/11The bathroom, in dramatic Calacatta marble, has a shower in a glass enclosure at the end of the bath. A wall of glass medicine cabinets provides storage.
James McDonald11/11
