Folded steel staircases lead to elevated rooms atop freestanding metal towers inside this old industrial building in Brussels that ADN Architectures has converted into an open-plan apartment.Belgian studio ADN Architectures added the two-storey structures on opposite sides of the space, loosely dividing a living room at one end from a central dining area and adjoining kitchen.The architects used a mixture of solid and perforated metal to vary the transparency of the more secluded spaces within the towers, which comprise a bathroom and a utility room on the main level, and a bedroom and study on the upper levels.
Cantilevered staircases made from folded steel lead separately to the top-floor spaces and face one another across the dining area.
Describing their intervention as "two volumes and three pieces of furniture," the architects explained that they wanted to create a simple interior with a limited palette of materials and colours.The pieces of built-in furniture mentioned are a kitchen counter, a bookshelf and a double-height wall of storage, which stretch along the two long sides of the apartment.Concrete ceilings are left exposed and three columns come down to the meet the new flooring, which is made up of a polyurethane screed.
