Olde Hickory

This project comprises the complete renovation of an apartment located within a landscaped country club setting.

The existing residential ensemble is characterized by low-rise buildings, generous green spaces, and a calm, resort-like atmosphere. Architecture here is deliberately understated, allowing landscape and light to define the living experience.

The design concept originates from the exceptional brightness of the existing interior. Rather than amplifying this condition through light finishes, the project adopts a deliberate counterpoint: a dark, restrained material palette that absorbs light, enhances depth, and heightens spatial perception.

A continuous wood floor runs throughout all rooms, creating visual continuity and introducing warmth and tactility. Bathrooms are fully redesigned and finished with natural sandstone tiles, whose subtle texture and tonal variation lend the spaces a calm, almost monolithic character. These rooms are conceived not as purely functional zones, but as intimate, spa-like retreats.

The kitchen is entirely replaced and redefined as an integrated architectural element. Dark cabinetry, minimal detailing, and a reduced material language allow it to recede visually, reinforcing the openness and clarity of the living space.

Through the interplay of dark surfaces, natural materials, and abundant daylight, the apartment is transformed into a refined and tranquil interior. It becomes a contemporary retreat that does not replicate its country club surroundings, but responds to them through contrast, material depth, and architectural restraint.

“Darkness as a Frame for Light”

Darkness is employed not as an absence, but as a spatial instrument.Dark surfaces frame daylight, sharpen perception, and allow materials to reveal their depth and texture. Wood and sandstone act as grounding elements, introducing warmth and permanence. Architecture emerges through atmosphere and restraint rather than formal expression.