Dezeen Magazine

Thisispaper Studio creates minimal holiday apartment for design enthusiasts

Polish office Thisispaper Studio has branched out into hospitality, with the opening of a minimalist holiday apartment in Warsaw's historical Praga district.

Called A-Place, the one-bedroom apartment is located within a new housing estate that is set inside a former 19th-century vodka distillery in the Polish capital of Warsaw.

A-PLACE by Thisispaper Studio

The apartment, which marks the first hospitality project to be carried out by Thisispaper Studio, is described founders Zuzanna Gasior and Alexander Zaharov as "a place where both the body and the spirit can unwind".

The duo wanted it to reflect the minimal aesthetic Thisispaper has become known for while providing tourists with a space to explore Warsaw in an "an unconventional way".

A-PLACE by Thisispaper Studio

Designed in its entirety by Gasior and Zaharov, an interior and graphic designer respectively, the apartment is neutrally decorated with white walls and natural wood flooring.

Furnishings and accessories include pieces by designers such as Dieter Rams, Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Richard Sapper, Nao Tamura, and Louis Poulsen.

A-PLACE by Thisispaper Studio

"Furnishing the apartment was at once the most exciting and challenging part," said the duo.  "To recreate the ambience of Warsaw, where its recent past intertwines daily with novelty and progress, we combined authentic vintage furniture with pieces designed by contemporary designers whose work we follow and admire."

"Regardless of their provenance, what the pieces always have in common is modesty and restriction, idée fixe of the design ethos that has guided Thisispaper from the start."

A-PLACE by Thisispaper Studio

While the kitchen features dark-stained timber cabinetry and a stainless steel worktop, the rest of the apartment is decorated in light neutral colours.

In the bedroom, a low-level bed is framed by a light green headboard, and the bathroom is covered in off-white tiles.

A-PLACE by Thisispaper Studio

Aiming to appeal to those interested in architecture and design, the apartment is equipped with books and magazines about the creative industries.

Visitors can also find origami kits, organic Japanese tea and freshly roasted local coffee. A vintage sound system from the 1970s encompassing a gramophone, an amplifier, a tuner and selected vinyl is located in the living room.

A-PLACE by Thisispaper Studio

"We designed A–Place from scratch, guided by our love for honest, natural materials, such as wood, steel, ceramics and linen," said the studio.

"Every surface, object and colour has been hand-picked in line with our design philosophy that creates harmony through a focus on function and purity of form."

A-PLACE by Thisispaper Studio

Warsaw-based Thisispaper Studio started out in 2011 as an online magazine but has since launched a print magazine and an online and store bricks and mortar store, located in a Soviet-era dental clinic in Warsaw.

A-Place is the first hospitality project to be completed by the studio.

"For a while now we've been meaning to take the Thisispaper experience from digital to reality," said Gasior and Zaharov. "We created a space where our values take a tangible form, available to everyone that chooses to make Warsaw a stop in their journey."