Header: Courtesy of modeko.studio
Just a short walk from the Vistula Boulevards in Warsaw, a 150-square-metre flat has been transformed into a private sanctuary. Designed by Paweł Łęczycki of modeko.studio, this interior, complete with a 50-metre terrace, was built for a couple looking for a calm city base. Rather than following loud trends, the design focuses on the physical feel of materials and a deep connection to original artwork.
This is already the second collaboration between Paweł Łęczycki and this pair of clients, and it is considered an even more fruitful one than the previous project. Conceived for a comfortable life for two, the interiors combine functionality with an atmosphere that encourages rest and reflection. The apartment could almost be described as a manifesto of quiet luxury.
Textures and tactile details
The flat serves as a showcase for high-quality craftsmanship and touchable surfaces. In the hallway, the walls are wrapped in deep-violet textile wallpaper, moving away from standard painted finishes. This softness is paired with silvery burr veneer cabinetry and aged, bevelled mirrors that hide the utility tech.
Throughout the home, the hardware acts as a finishing touch. Brass furniture handles from the Polish workshop PAP Deco are used like jewellery for the cupboards, offering different shapes that feel heavy and solid to the hand. These small metal details are mirrored in the kitchen, where a brass trim cuts through the thick, hammered Nero Zimbabwe granite worktop on the central island.
Lighting and technology play together
Light is one of the main elements of the interior. During the day, sunlight softly seeping through the penthouse windows highlights the texture of the high-quality materials used throughout the space. At night, carefully chosen lamps bring warmth and comfort to the home, creating a soothing evening atmosphere for the couple.
Lighting was adapted to the time of day and to the residents’ lifestyle, managed by a KNX system, which also controls the curtains, bio-fireplace, air conditioning and heating. The apartment is equipped with a Sonos multiroom audio system, allowing music to be played separately in each room or throughout the entire apartment at once.
Stepping through the home
The relaxing experience of this artistic penthouse starts immediately after arriving in the entrance hall. The atmosphere of the interior is introduced by the entrance door, clad in deep-violet textile wallpaper. Complementing it is the cabinetry finished in silvery burr veneer and aged bevelled mirror panels that discreetly conceal, among other things, the intercom. From here, one can enter the living room and continue into the master zone. In the case that privacy is what one wishes for, glass doors invite the residents into the study and guest area (which has an exceptionally comfortable Calligaris sofa).
The main living room cabinetry gives off the warmth only wood can give, encompassing, as well, a variety of functions: it is within those spacious wardrobes that shoes and outerwear can be found. As one enters the main social area, it is hard not to notice the bio-fireplace and the aforementioned panel with exposed fabric, which hides the TV screen and audio system. A monumental frame with a burr-veneer passe-partout slides effortlessly thanks to a custom mechanism developed by Paweł Łęczycki in collaboration with the Cedros carpentry workshop.
One of the biggest design challenges faced by the studio was hiding installations that could break the careful artistic environment within the furniture: the KNX distribution board, electrical and multimedia boxes, and the ducted air-conditioning system.
A natural extension of the living room is the 50-metre terrace overlooking Powiśle, which Paweł Łęczycki divided into several zones. On the kitchen side, a café-style area; further on, beneath a pergola, the dining table. From the study adjacent to the living room, one steps directly into an outdoor lounge zone, where furniture for relaxation awaits among lush greenery. Rich in detail and as carefully designed as the interior itself, this arrangement forms a dreamlike setting for relaxation in the open air. This is exactly the definition of an artistic haven above the city.
The taste of life
The kitchen, an extension of the living room, features an ergonomic working layout. Its heart is the island, whose form intersects with a column clad in a mosaic of marble tiles of varying lengths, finished in both gloss and matte. The massive, thickened countertop made of hammered Nero Zimbabwe granite is cut by a line of brass trim. The studio planned both a sink and an induction hob with an integrated extractor here.
Tall kitchen cabinetry finished in veneer similar to the tall units in the living area houses the oven, refrigerator and freezer, as well as numerous systems for storing kitchen equipment and utensils. The lower wall cabinetry, contrasting with the island, is finished in light beige quartz sinter.
The aforementioned column also acts as a screen separating the kitchen from the dining area. At a massive table inspired by the form of arcades (Miloni) stand Gubi “Gent” chairs, light in contrast and enriched with delicate brass detailing. The residents and their guests dine beneath the Vibia “Flamingo” lamp, whose form may evoke associations with Asian hats.
The bedroom behind the screen
In a luxury apartment designed for a couple, it seems entirely natural that the master zone features movable walls. Two pairs of sliding doors transform the walk-through wardrobe into a buffer space.
The bedroom offers an even richer play of textures. Everything here serves the highest level of comfort: a world-class mattress, a hemp duvet, washed-linen pillowcases and a fully bespoke textile arrangement for the bed in colours that recur throughout the interior, from violets to lime greens.
Thanks to two pairs of sliding doors, the bathroom adjacent to the bedroom can remain semi-open, shielded only by a screen of textured glass, through which gentle shades of Indian pink glow and the AXOR One fittings in a polished optical-gold finish subtly shimmer.
Designed by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, the series is characterised by a coherent design language defined by slender silhouettes, smooth surfaces, soft edges and balanced proportions. The designers themselves emphasise that they began with the precision of water control, and that same precision shaped the body of the tap. Simplicity combined with crafted detail (the spout narrowing upwards) reflects the idea of compact luxury.
Adding pleasure to work
The guest area adjoins the study, accessible, as mentioned earlier, from the entrance zone of the apartment. This functional layout separates business matters from the sphere of relaxation, while the study itself remains open to its surroundings thanks to wide glazing and direct access to the terrace.
This sense of lightness can be found in the delicate form of the shelves with distinctly bevelled edges, the suspended cabinet for documents and the openwork structure of the “JFK” desk by NOR11. The desk is a reinterpretation of classic Danish furniture from the 1960s, as suggested by the noble rosewood veneer used here. Hanging above is an intimate painting composition by Monika Janus.
On the other side of the mirror
Another important room lies in the central part of the apartment: the bathroom with a sauna. Here, the architect once again used large sliding doors. This time, two large copper-tinted mirror panels separate the front zone and its freestanding washbasin and WC from the deeper area containing the sauna and shower. Someone visiting the apartment briefly might not even realise that something lies hidden behind the mirrored wall. Yet this is where the residents relax in their spare time, enjoying an intimate sauna designed ideally for two people.
A space of art
Each artwork was designed specifically for this space to harmonise with its rhythm, atmosphere and direction of light. Visitors are welcomed in the entrance hall by a sculpture by Krzysztof Renes, and in the living room, an artistic textile by Sienna Paloma, stretched across a sliding panel, becomes the stage of everyday life – it is this piece, not the television screen, that draws the eye and focuses attention. Another textile appears in the guest area, an openwork circular composition by Beata Warta, and in the dining room, a painting by Joanna Talaska attracts attention: it is atmospheric, immersed in light and inspired by nature and Japanese contemplation. In the study, there is a work by Monika Janus which is small yet full of energy, like a captured gesture. In the master zone appears a geometric composition by Magda Żak, a calm and balanced piece that brings order and harmony.
“It was not only about selecting artists but about a creative process embedded in the architecture so that the boundary between interior design and artwork becomes fluid.”
Paweł Łęczycki
The East Rooted in Warsaw
The project draws inspiration from the achievements of Eastern cultures, particularly Japan and Korea, yet always with an understanding of its local context.
“Our intention was to combine European aesthetics with the philosophy of simplicity, a sense of proportion and the art of architecture working together with light.”
Paweł Łęczycki
As a result, the apartment was designed in line with the idea of Eastern homes: it can function as one unified, open whole, yet, when necessary, it can be divided into intimate zones. Privacy here is graduated depending on the current needs of the residents and their guests.
