Rome-based StudioTamat has used colour, transparency and reflection to bring a sense of spaciousness to a small house in the heart of the Italian capital.

Located in the courtyard of a late-19th-century building on Viale di Trastevere, the 80-square-metre RA House provides an urban base for a couple who divide their time between addresses.

StudioTamat's design brings together glass floors, mirror ceilings, sculptural staircases and a stained glass facade.

The studio founders wanted to preserve the existing charm of the "villino", as they call it, while reflecting the vibrancy of the Trastevere neighbourhood.

"It was about amplifying spatial dynamism while keeping a coherent language throughout," said architect Matteo Soddu, who leads the studio alongside Tommaso Amato and Valentina Paiola.

The architects were unable to confirm the original use of the space, although it is rumoured to have been both a home for the train station caretaker and an office for a local doctor.

Their first move was to rethink the vertical arrangement of the three-level property, to create a greater feeling of height.

Part of the original first-floor mezzanine was replaced with a structural glass floor, creating a visual connection between the ground-floor living spaces and the bedroom above.

A void in this floor creates a double-height lightwell, fronted by a new window, while mirrored ceilings create the illusion of endless space.

A blue volume extends between the two levels, neatly providing kitchen and utility spaces on the lower storey and an en-suite bathroom on the floor above.

A bookshelf doubles as a space-saving staircase to link these two floors, while a spiral staircase leads up to the second floor, which serves as a study or guest room.

"The first step was subtraction – to give breathing room to these compact floors," said Soddu.

"We preserved the essential structure and original terracotta floors, but played with pure volumes, reflected surfaces and a strong material thread," he continued.

"The mirrored ceiling above the blue volume creates a sense of vertical infinity."

A key move was the restoration of the art-nouveau-style stained glass, which brings shades of green, orange and yellow to an orangery at the front of the villino.

Newly introduced materials include Verde Alpi marble, which features on every level but most notably as a podium at the base of the chestnut wood staircase.

Fluted glass provides partitions for the en-suite on the upper level, while metal kitchen cabinets feature an ombre-effect fading from rose-gold to black.

A mix of contemporary and vintage furniture and lighting provides the finishing touches, with highlights including a concrete table, vintage Thonet chairs and a custom-made bed.

Soddu, Amato and Paiola founded StudioTamat in 2014. Other projects by the studio include the interior of Tre De Tutto, a restaurant in the south of Rome.

The photography is by Serena Eller/Ellerstudio.

Project credits

Architect: StudioTamat
Project team: Tommaso Amato, Matteo Soddu, Valentina Paiola, Silvia D'Alessandro
Contractor: Ediltel B