Casa in Isola by Nube Architetture
Casa in Isola sits on the third floor of a 1960s building in Milan, Italy, and reads as a measured rethink of urban living. Nube Architetture transforms a one-bedroom apartment into a more capable home in 2024, adding a second bedroom and bathroom without dimming the rooms that matter. The result preserves the building’s easy proportions while recutting the plan for daily life and light.
Morning light slides along white walls and catches on lacquered doors. A measured threshold tightens the ceiling, then releases into brighter rooms where the view opens.
The apartment is a compact urban home in Milan’s Isola district, redesigned by Nube Architetture in 2024. It shifts from a former one-bedroom to a two-bedroom, two-bath layout centered on a clear internal sequence. The plan reads clean and legible, guiding movement and preserving daylight where people gather.
Reframe The Plan
The architects redraw the layout around a distinct divide between living and sleeping. A central band becomes the hinge, tightening circulation while freeing the main rooms to breathe with light. The threshold sets hierarchy with a deliberate compression, then the ceilings lift and the rooms expand. Small move, strong effect.
Central Band Sequence
Running between the two zones, the band houses both bathrooms and a concealed laundry-storage run. It keeps chores and services concentrated, which clears edges for furniture and longer views. One bathroom connects directly to the main bedroom, tightening daily routines into a short path. Privacy stays intact.
Living Wall Unit
Along the living area, a custom built unit gathers kitchen, entry, and lounge functions in one continuous volume. The lacquered surface reads as a calm backdrop that orders movement and frames conversation. Beveled doors within the plane pivot to the sleeping rooms and echo the building’s original boiserie geometry in a crisp, current way. One plane, many roles.
Lower, Then Lift
Where systems require it, the ceiling drops across the central band to form a clear passage. That measured dip sharpens contrast and brightens the living and sleeping rooms beyond. The move transforms necessity into orientation—people register the shift and turn accordingly. It’s both marker and map.
Monochrome, Then Terrazzo
Bathrooms read as monochrome volumes, immersive and contained against the white living areas. Custom terrazzo washbasin tops connect to Milanese tradition and fold memory into daily use. The material adds grain and weight without crowding the rooms or dulling light. Tactile, not loud.
Evening returns the apartment to its measured cadence and soft edges. The plan does the quiet work, setting clear routes and keeping brightness where it counts. A simple hinge of rooms makes a compact home feel sure of itself.
Photography by Nicolò Panzeri
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