Houzz Tour: A City Flat Where Open-plan Has Been Taken to the Max
An architect has created a light, open home for her young family that can be partitioned as the child grows up
The flat belonging to architect Ada Catapano, her husband, Maurizio, and their six-year-old son, Theo, is in a 17th century building overlooking the rooftops of Naples, Italy. Renovated in 2016, it offers a stunning view of the city and the Quartieri Spagnoli (Spanish Neighbourhoods) district – a vibrant and bustling grid of narrow, perpendicular alleyways filled with historic buildings.
To allow light and air to flow through the flat, it was designed with as few internal doors as possible, turning the bedrooms into secluded niches rather than independent spaces. The goal of creating an airy family home was certainly realised.
To allow light and air to flow through the flat, it was designed with as few internal doors as possible, turning the bedrooms into secluded niches rather than independent spaces. The goal of creating an airy family home was certainly realised.
The flat’s layout, with Theo’s room top right, and the main bedroom and en suite bottom centre, to the right of the main living space.
On entering, wooden furniture immediately catches the eye, illuminated by the light that floods the apartment through its many windows.
Theo’s room is just visible through the shelving on the right of this image of the entrance. Like the master bedroom, this room has no door, which allows light to filter through to the entrance and hallway.
On the left, a window frame and shutters from the original interior design were used to create a wardrobe.
Theo’s room is just visible through the shelving on the right of this image of the entrance. Like the master bedroom, this room has no door, which allows light to filter through to the entrance and hallway.
On the left, a window frame and shutters from the original interior design were used to create a wardrobe.
The furniture in the nursery is simple and pared down to essentials. It changes constantly as Theo grows. Ada made the decal with Theo’s name out of pallet boards for his first birthday. The yellow drawing is his own work.
The framed pictures here are from a calendar from the year of Theo’s birth. Such simple décor ideas can be seen throughout the flat.
The hanging wool tapestry was a gift from a Colombian friend.
The hanging wool tapestry was a gift from a Colombian friend.
The only door in the flat leads from the entrance to the walk-in wardrobe, which then leads on to one of the two bathrooms.
Above the bath hangs a storage unit that can be reached by ladder or, according to the architect, by standing on the edge of the tub.
Ada made the pendant light on the left of the photo herself, “out of an old milk-glass lampshade from Ikea, a textile cable from Creative Cables and a beech wall bracket [left over from the original kitchen worktop],” she says.
Above the bath hangs a storage unit that can be reached by ladder or, according to the architect, by standing on the edge of the tub.
Ada made the pendant light on the left of the photo herself, “out of an old milk-glass lampshade from Ikea, a textile cable from Creative Cables and a beech wall bracket [left over from the original kitchen worktop],” she says.
The innermost part of the bathroom houses the toilet, bidet and washbasin, which rests on a worktop “custom-made out of BauBuche, a laminated veneer composed of 3mm-thick sheets of beech wood,” Ada says. The collection of Linus magazines on the wall is Maurizio’s.
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Continuing on from the entrance, the master bedroom is on the left. The glass door that’s just visible in the photo, on the other side of the bed, leads to one end of the terrace.
This room doesn’t have a door, either – just a pale grey linen curtain. “Clearly, this compromises personal privacy, but the layout was designed in such a way as to create spaces that are well-defined, sometimes just through differences in height, and which can be hidden from view with curtains,” Ada says.
“There’s still the possibility of partitioning with sliding walls and glass doors, which we’re planning to do now our son is getting older,” she says. “I like the idea that our home is never finished, that it’s an organism that grows with its inhabitants: some things in it are temporary and others are still ‘missing’, because maybe the right object has yet to be found, or it exists but it’s over our budget.”
This room doesn’t have a door, either – just a pale grey linen curtain. “Clearly, this compromises personal privacy, but the layout was designed in such a way as to create spaces that are well-defined, sometimes just through differences in height, and which can be hidden from view with curtains,” Ada says.
“There’s still the possibility of partitioning with sliding walls and glass doors, which we’re planning to do now our son is getting older,” she says. “I like the idea that our home is never finished, that it’s an organism that grows with its inhabitants: some things in it are temporary and others are still ‘missing’, because maybe the right object has yet to be found, or it exists but it’s over our budget.”
This shot from within the master bedroom looks back towards the front door. On the right is the en suite bathroom, accessed through the shower.
“The shower tray is handmade and consists of a resin base and a removable panel of teak slats. Even the glass partitions are hand-crafted, made of non-slip Madras panels, whose rough finish echoes the ceramic tiles inside the rest of the bathroom.”
“The shower tray is handmade and consists of a resin base and a removable panel of teak slats. Even the glass partitions are hand-crafted, made of non-slip Madras panels, whose rough finish echoes the ceramic tiles inside the rest of the bathroom.”
The vanity unit in the en suite is made of an old Singer sewing machine base. That and the mirror were restored by the architect’s father.
The majolica tiles on the left of the wall were recovered from the entrance hall.
The paint in both bathrooms is enamel.
The majolica tiles on the left of the wall were recovered from the entrance hall.
The paint in both bathrooms is enamel.
Next to the main bedroom is the spacious, high-ceilinged, open-plan kitchen, dining and living room, which leads to the terrace.
The kitchen is modified from an Ikea model. Ada bought the pulls online from a UK store. The worktop is a timber laminate, which was cut to measure before Ada painted it.
“Painting it was not an easy task, because it’s a particular type of wood [ash], so it took a lot of time and several attempts to find the right paint mix. It would have been better to hire a specialist, but we were coming to the end of both the work and our budget.”
“Painting it was not an easy task, because it’s a particular type of wood [ash], so it took a lot of time and several attempts to find the right paint mix. It would have been better to hire a specialist, but we were coming to the end of both the work and our budget.”
The wooden display cabinet comes from one of Maurizio’s previous homes. The pendant lights are ceramic.
The sofa also comes from a previous home and has been reupholstered. The bookshelves were purchased in a local shop selling vintage items. “They fit perfectly into our space: two of the four modules are shallower and fit behind the staircase,” Ada says. “There’s also one unit at the entrance.”
The iron-and-wood stairs, made by blacksmith Ciro Pepe and carpenter Carlo Calabró – who also made the desk and the wardrobe in the entrance hall – lead to the architect’s study/workshop on the mezzanine. This year, due to the pandemic, she has shared it with her husband.
Ada also works in the fashion industry, and this area doubles as her workshop. “[My office] has always been off limits to my son for a number of reasons: not only is there no railing, but there are also scissors, sharp tools and a sewing machine,” she says.
Instead of a typical glass parapet, she plans to install a full-height net, like those used by acrobats, to make the space safer while still letting light through.
Instead of a typical glass parapet, she plans to install a full-height net, like those used by acrobats, to make the space safer while still letting light through.
There is also a small relaxation corner. The beam above it has been put to use as display storage.
There is no television in the flat, “but there is a projector on the ceiling facing the wall in front of the sofa. As a result, the wall is white and a little bare,” Ada explains. “We went for this light fixture precisely because we needed a decorative object that can be moved easily when we want to watch something.”
The windows were very important to the concept, and expensive due to their size – the floor-to-ceiling window is 4m tall.
The windows were very important to the concept, and expensive due to their size – the floor-to-ceiling window is 4m tall.
The living room leads to the renovated terrace. Ada put in a new waterproofing membrane and a new floor, and repainted the railings and moved them to the outside of the pillars. The composition includes an array of terracotta pots and Ada plans to expand the collection in future.
“The room on the terrace was formerly a guest bathroom. It was present on the original cadastral plans, but I wanted to get rid of it at first. Then I realised it would be an opportunity for the kitchen and a way to arrange the long terrace better, as several different spaces,” Ada says.
There’s a more functional section of the terrace behind the veranda outside the bedroom windows. “This is how the industrial-looking veranda was born, made with an aluminium window frame by Metra and combined with the same iron beams found in the other fixtures in the apartment,” she says. The shutters are also made of aluminium.
Tell us…
What do you like about this redesigned city flat? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
There’s a more functional section of the terrace behind the veranda outside the bedroom windows. “This is how the industrial-looking veranda was born, made with an aluminium window frame by Metra and combined with the same iron beams found in the other fixtures in the apartment,” she says. The shutters are also made of aluminium.
Tell us…
What do you like about this redesigned city flat? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
Who lives here? Architect Ada Catapano with her husband, Maurizio, and their six-year-old son, Theo
Location Naples, Italy
Size Two bedrooms and two bathrooms; 83 sq m plus a 10 sq m mezzanine
Renovation year 2016
Cost About €100,000 (around £84,493)
Architect Ada Catapano in collaboration with architect Danilo Iacone, who contributed some aspects of the design, and managed the site and planning permissions
Photos by Marco Cavalli