Flirting with glamour!

By Savitha Hira

Photography: Courtesy GAO Architects

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GAO Architects design an oasis of understated luxury and quietude amidst the chaotic hustle-bustle of Slovenia’s capital city, Ljubljana…

Sophistication comes in many shades, in many hues: it could be defined with a flourish of the classic; it could be understated with the contemporary chic; it could also be devised on a thematic to infuse the ambience with mystique and method.

 

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This home in the heart of Ljubljana is laid out along an L-shape flanked by a Japanese-styled minimalist, open-to-sky garden in white gravel and oakwood-plank deck – enclosed as part of the home, much on the lines of an internal courtyard.

All rooms - public and private - open into the garden via floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors, completely ushering the outdoors into the otherwise modest home.

 

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Employing a simple schematic of grey, black and brown, an open-plan comfortably accommodates living-dining-kitchen and a common dressing area along with a master bedroom and two other smaller rooms. White is introduced as a break-free element and thin vertical timber laths constitute pattern and rhythm.

 

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A thematic of pseudo-industrial-grunge-wrapped-in-urban-chic takes on the heavy kitchen-dining partition, open bookshelves; horizontal laths in the dressing area and the intriguing floating frame that houses additional seating in the open kitchen.

 

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It is almost as if a duality prevails: the bedrooms take on a completely different avatar – in soft hues and gossamer furnishings, textured wallpapers and curvy forms. Although soft lines exist even in the public areas, the colour composition keeps the ambience warm, but of the touch-me-carefully kind; whereas the private areas loosen up and are completely cosy and inviting. 

This overall simple but carefully collated clean and warm ambience is highlighted by select lighting that adds the final flourish - a touch of glamour accentuated by the flat's luxurious high ceilings.