Dezeen Magazine

Apartment A by Atelier Dialect

Atelier Dialect places mirrored tub in minty green bathroom of Apartment A

Green walls offset a shiny steel tub in the bathroom of this Antwerp apartment, which has been updated by Belgian design studio Atelier Dialect.

The green bathroom is one of a handful of aesthetic changes that Atelier Dialect made to Apartment A. Before the studio's intervention, the home had already undergone an extensive renovation by a different architect.

Apartment A by Atelier Dialect

"We intervened because the client was not happy with the way the apartment was evolving," Atelier Dialect's co-founder, Jonas Blondeel, told Dezeen.

"So we had to design the place with the 'constrictions' of the previous decisions that were made."

Apartment A by Atelier Dialect

The master bedroom is a long open-plan space, half of which accommodates an en-suite bathroom. At the centre of the space is a chunky partition wall that's largely been clad with glazed white subway tiles, excluding a row of black tiles that run along the wall's base.

It serves as a graphic backdrop for the rectangular freestanding tub that has been placed just in front.

Apartment A by Atelier Dialect

Externally the bath has been wrapped with panels of mirrored steel, complementing the sanded stainless-steel basin that's been inset into an adjacent L-shaped partition.

The studio has tried to create additional textural interest by laying heavy grey carpet on the floor and applying a glossy paint to the ceiling.

Apartment A by Atelier Dialect

Behind the central partition hides a shower cubicle and toilet that have been entirely coated in mint-green polyester paint.

"The original idea was to use the colour of polyurethane foam – this didn't work out so we went for this green," Blondeel explained.

One wall has been punctured with a simple square niche where the inhabitants can store their toiletries.

Apartment A by Atelier Dialect

A more neutral colour palette features throughout the rest of Apartment A – in the living room, for example, surfaces have been loosely washed with cement.

Inhabitants can display their books or personal trinkets here in the mirrored shelving unit, or on the low-lying black oak sideboard that winds around the room's perimeter.

The studio has also boxed-in a feature wall in the home's more formal lounge area to create a recessed fireplace.

Apartment A by Atelier Dialect

An exposed-aggregate concrete counter has been installed in the kitchen. It sits directly beneath a panel of black and murky green tiles that was created by the previous architect.

In the nearby dining area, there is a metallic table and matching set of chairs by Flemish designer Maarten Van Severen.

A huge grooved daybed upholstered in brown velvet by Belgian designer Jonas Van Put has also been added to the apartment's snug.

Apartment A by Atelier Dialect

Atelier Dialect was established in 2012 by Jonas Blondeel and Pierric De Coster. Several other architects and designers opt to create an explosion of colour in home bathrooms – the remodel of a London maisonette, Studio 30 Architects painted the upper half of its bathroom aquamarine and the lower half baby pink.

Adam Nathaniel Furman also decked out the bathroom of a Tokyo apartment with blue, purple and milky-orange tiles.

Photography is by Piet-Albert Goethals.

More images and plans

Apartment A by Atelier Dialect
Floor plan