UFO apartment with sliding wall, Eurovea, Bratislava, Slovakia

We designed an exclusive apartment on the Danube waterfront, which includes a unique element - three meters high electricallly driven sliding wall separated the rooms. After opening the apartment of size 70 m² gets a large 50 m² living room.

Originally, the apartment should have been furnished without construction changes. However, an extraordinary place needs an extraordinary solution, so we pulled everything down and created an UFO interior with sliding wall that cannot be found in the whole universe. The apartment will be used as an occasional retreat during visits of the shopping mall or Danube promenade. In spite of its hypermodern look the interior is practical and functional and in comparison with the original design there is more storage space. The commanding element is an electric sliding wall separating daytime and night time zones. When pushed aside, both zones melt into one and a single 60 square meters space appears. The electric wall, the lights, curtains, multimedia even the glass transparency can be controlled by switches via a mobile phone. From all rooms there is a view of Danube. Whole space can serve as a model apartment for a interior design company.

Open layout with living room connected with kitchen and bedroom

As the apartment is designed for people with the same life rhythm we merged all living areas into an open disposition, providing maximum space and view. After pushing the sliding wall aside daytime and night time zones melt into one creating huge space of 60 square meters. From all the parts of the apartment Danube can be seen.

Self-levelling flooring and wood on the walls

When designing, we adhered to the principle that on walls wood is more durable than on the floor. Seamless epoxy flooring with polyurethane coating may look sterile, but it is soft to touch and as warm as wood. Surface of the furniture is made of brushed vertically arranged elm boards. Brushing removes soft parts of the veneer and accentuates its graining.

Passage between living and sleeping rooms

The sliding wall has three positions. Apart from “open” and “closed” there is a “middle” position providing a door-wide passage between living and sleeping rooms. The extraordinary silent electric motor enables wall movements even during night. The wall can be controlled by switches on the walls and/or by a smartphone application.

Bedroom and bathroom with electrically dimmed glass

The night zone consists of the bathroom and the bedroom. In the minimalist bedroom there is nothing superfluous – just a bed, bedside tables and lamps. Storage spaces of the night zone are not in the bedroom, but – unusually – in the bathroom. The bathroom and the bedroom are divided by a glass partition with a sliding door made of a special electrically dimmed glass.

Bathroom with wardrobe and skylight

Bathroom lighting is provided by a dimming ceiling light fitting. Low intensity light can be used as navigation, e.g. when walking to the toilet at night. Maximum light makes an impression of the sky and the bathroom feels like an open cabrio. White epoxy floors and walls are livened up by wood graining on the build-in wardrobe door.

View from the bathroom

The layout provides a view of Danube from any place of the apartment. This is also true in the bathroom as after pushing a button a non-transparent glass becomes transparent opening a view of Danube from the kitchen. The river can be seen from the bathtub, toilet, even when using the washbasin, since the wall behind it is mirroring.

Wardrobe in bathroom

Originally, the wardrobe was in the bedroom but as we replaced the fixed partition with a sliding one, the wardrobe is located in the only available place in the night zone – in the bathroom. And it really is a proper place. Apart from forced ventilation switched on automatically with increased humidity, the bathroom also has natural ventilation through the bedroom. The wardrobe has also an optical function as it livened the minimalist white bathroom up.

Kitchen with electric door

The UFO apartment kitchen is made of the same wood as the rest of the interior. Its doors are of vertical boards with a brushed elm veneer surface with visible gaps, optically denying the function structure of the doors. The doors make a compact piece of furniture out of the kitchen with an artificial white stone opening. Most of the doors are electric-powered.

Additional storage space behind the sliding wall

Behind the sliding wall, there is a furniture with stereo, a built-in wine cooler and a coffee machine. Moreover, it provides additional storage space for anything, from seasonal wear to books. From the entrance side there is a wardrobe and a shoe locker. From the hall a visitors’ toilet behind the mirror partition with sliding door can be accessed.

Visitors’ toilet with a washing machine and a dryer

Into the visitors’ toilet we hid the optically most disturbing appliance – the washing machine with the dryer. Naturally, there is space for laundry, detergents and towels. The partition wall between the hall and the toilet with sliding door is a double-faced mirror. In the toilet the lower part of the mirror is matted not to disturb the user by reflecting their image.