The Almaty Plywood Apartment, designed by Peter Kostelov in 2024, is located in Almaty, Kazakhstan. This 83.5-square-metre apartment features a Live/Work concept, balancing private and public zones.
The Almaty Plywood Apartment is designed by Peter Kostelov, in the historic center of Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan. The 83.5-square-metre apartment is located in a building constructed in 1973.
Kostelov’s design “celebrates exposed structural components”, emphasizing their critical importance for safety in a seismic zone. “Loads bearing elements such as concrete column, beams, and brick walls are presented in raw shape, framed by plywood, and illuminated with ambient light,” the designer continued.
Most buildings in Almaty are made of reinforced concrete due to the seismic zone, which results in interiors containing “massive columns and beams”, Kostelov explained.
The project’s layout explores a balanced distribution of spaces based on a Live/Work concept. “In a sense of layout, the key idea is a deliberate division between public and private zones,” Kostelov said.
The private zone is east-facing, opening up to the “quiet and green courtyard”, and contains a master bedroom, bathroom, balcony, and living room, all connected to a walk-through kitchen. Meanwhile, public areas such as two studios and a guest toilet are located in the west-facing zone facing a “noisy main street”.
A corridor connects and divides areas, allowing for easy navigation across the plan. Two sliding doors next to the kitchen and living room can be opened or closed off for different usage scenarios.
To align with the flexible concept, some interior elements are designed to be movable, foldable, or transformable. Examples include sliding doors, tables on wheels, and foldable furniture such as beds and benches.
The apartment’s 7.2-square-metre balcony can be treated as a “living room extension” during the warmer time. Three scenarios are designed for the balcony, including an empty space that can be used for physical activity, an outdoor dining area with folding benches and a table, and a transformation into an “outdoor bedroom” with the foldaway bed.
Most interior items follow a modular spatial grid, composed of steel tubes measuring 20 by 20 millimeters. “Different cells sizes accommodate variation of the furniture elements, to achieve a pulsating, variable composition,” Kostelov explained.
“This concept is supported by finishes taken from natural undecorated materials such as plywood, metal, glass, wood, ceramics, parquet boards, etc.”
