Site icon Dezeen
House of Dust

Ten residential interiors showcasing exposed plaster walls

An award-winning council house renovation and homes with curved design elements feature in our latest lookbook, which collects ten interiors that celebrate the versatility of plaster walls.

Plaster is a protective building material traditionally used to coat walls and ceilings, which are often then covered with decorative paint or wallpaper.

But architects and designers can also leave a room's plaster exposed to reduce the cost of a project or create a more rugged visual effect.

From a bright cottage extension in Australia to a renovated rooftop apartment in Israel, here are ten examples of residential projects with textured plaster walls that complement the rest of their interior designs.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen's archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing compact bedrooms, white kitchens and escapist holiday homes.


Photo is by Eric Staudenmaier

Radius House, USA, by Pentagon

Curved plaster walls create a sculptural composition in Radius House, a residential project in Los Angeles' Venice Beach designed by local studio Pentagon.

Pared-back in colour but dynamically shaped, the walls intend to create an eye-catching backdrop for more contrasting interior elements, such as a walnut grand staircase.

"The Venetian plaster walls give the residence a luminous continuity and a handcrafted quality throughout," said Pentagon.

Find out more about Radius House ›


Photo is by Nicole Franzen

Long Island home, USA, by Athena Calderone

Walls covered in plaster by Kamp Studios join linen fabric and marble finishes to create this mid-century Long Island home's pale interior palette.

New York designer Athena Calderone owns and lives in the dwelling, which she updated to showcase a mixture of contemporary and vintage furniture.

"The walls were just crisp white, and I wanted to make them plaster and a bit warmer and creamier, so that really changed the house a lot," explained Calderone.

Find out more about this Long Island home ›


Photo is by Jim Stephenson

Council House Renovation, UK, by VATRAA

Architecture studio VATRAA added dusty-pink plaster walls to this council house renovation in London that won a Don't Move, Improve! award for its design.

The warm-hued, textured walls feature British Gypsum Multifinish – a plaster that the studio defined as "banal" – which saved on the cost of paint and created an eclectic canvas for the occupant's collection of art and design objects.

Find out more about Council House Renovation ›


Photo is by Tash McCammon

Plaster Fun House, Australia, by Sans-Arc Studio

Another residential project that celebrates white plaster walls, Plaster Fun House is a south Australian cottage with an extension characterised by terrazzo and playfully-arched windows and doors.

Sans-Arc Studio took cues from the aesthetic of 1930s cruise liners by incorporating art deco and P&O architecture-style design elements into the extension, which intends to stand out against the neighbourhood's more commonplace brown-brick houses.

Find out more about Plaster Fun House ›


Photo is by Karin Matz

HB6B, Sweden, by Karin Matz

Peeling plaster walls and crumbling bricks were left deliberately exposed during the renovation of HB6B, an apartment in Stockholm measuring just 36 square metres.

Swedish architect Karin Matz refurbished the open-plan space for herself. It fits a kitchen on one side and a bedroom on the other, interrupted only by a central bathroom.

According to Matz, HB6B's peeling walls were designed to maintain "the previous layers and stories" of the apartment, which also features low-hanging lights at different levels.

Find out more about HB6B ›


Photo is by Gonzalo Viramonte

Maricel's House, Argentina, by Edgardo Marveggio

Designed by architect Edgardo Maraveggio for his ex-wife, the thick, textured plaster that covers Marciel's House in Córdoba also forms its brightly-coloured interior canvas.

Vivid artworks and furnishings complete the living space, which reveals the yellow waffle-slab roof that tops the dwelling and extends over its front patio.

Find out more about Maricel's House ›


Photo is by Dan Bronfeld

Jaffa Roofhouse, Israel, by Gitai Architects

The ancient limestone buildings of the Israeli city Jaffa informed this rooftop apartment renovated by Gitai Architects, which is characterised by three curved plaster walls that blend into pale floors.

The walls were covered in plaster and shaped to soften Jaffa Roofhouse's existing boxy shell. Their appearance changes from shades of gold to lavender as the sun rises and sets across the city.

Find out more about Jaffa Roofhouse ›


Photo is by Simone Bossi

House in a Park, Switzerland, by Think Architecture

House in a Park is a collection of stone and plaster-lined volumes created by local studio Think Architecture atop a hill in Zurich.

The home has lime-plaster walls designed to provide a minimal interior setting and focus attention on the surrounding forest views, which can be seen from rectilinear glass windows.

Find out more about House in a Park ›


Photo is courtesy of Antonino Cardillo

House of Dust, Italy, by Antonino Cardillo

A band of craggy, textured plaster lines the upper walls and ceilings of this apartment in Rome to create an unusual visual effect.

Italian architect Antonino Cardillo used the geometric ratio of the golden section to design a horizontal division that separates House of Dust's living spaces with contemporary furniture from its statement plaster features.

Explaining what informed the project, Cardillo said, "[I was] craving for primordial caverns, for Renaissance grotesques, for nymphaeums in Doria Pamphilj, for faintly Liberty facades in the streets off Via Veneto".

Find out more about House of Dust ›


Photo is by Jack Hobhouse

Skip Stop House, UK, by Design Haus Liberty

A group of London apartments was completed on a low budget by "using the palette that was already there", according to Dara Huang of local studio Design Haus Liberty.

Layers of paint and wallpaper were removed to expose patinated plaster, while the studio also used off-the-shelf materials to create industrial-looking but affordable interiors.

"We used the palette that was already there but was hidden, so if we uncovered a wall and there was brick behind it we left it and tidied it up," added Huang.

"The things that were already there just needed to be uncovered and paired with the right materials."

Find out more about Skip Stop House ›

This is the latest in our series of lookbooks providing curated visual inspiration from Dezeen's image archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks showcasing plant-filled hotels, self-designed studios by architects and designers and interiors with room dividers in place of walls.

Exit mobile version