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The name of Onyx is an obligating one. This means a housing estate, located at Wola Justowska, which is one of the most expensive residential districts of Kraków. However, these are rather the technology and appearance than the actual location, which are responsible for the price. Those ultra-modern semi-detached houses are built of largely glazed modules. Each of them is covered with graphite elevation panels, and the austerity of that cladding is broken only by means of surprisingly canary-yellow doors. It is the same, harsh character that we expect to find inside. And we won't be disappointed. We cross the threshold of one of the flats and enter a relatively rather small, multifunctional studio. It has been arranged a bit in a manlike style, with a sparkle typical of young people, who have managed to develop a taste for a good design. But let's not make any assumptions in advance. It's true that the interior design was prepared by two young designers from the design office of Signatura Remi & Gile. However, it was the owner of the flat, a fully mature man, who imposed such a modern character of his dwelling place. It was him, who provoked both lady designers Małgorzata Domin and Paulina Remi-Michalska to brave ideas. Finally, they created an interior arranged in cold greys, warmed a little only by means of oak woodblock floors. Just like on the elevation, also inside the hues of anthracite as well as glossy white and glass surfaces are broken by means of colour elements: vividly green, organic forms of chairs in the dining room and yellow floor finish on the first floor.
Owing to consistently applied colours and its ascetic decor, the flat seems to be large. Yet, each of its two levels is less than 40 m2 (76 m2 in total) in surface. This is not much, as far as a house is concerned. Especially, if one cares for enjoying a space, and at the same time, does not want to dispense with cosy, private rooms. Therefore, in the beginning the designers divided the flat into an open, representative ground floor part, and the first floor, which features an intimate bedroom, a study, and a bathroom. They also selected an unfailing method to cope with the small surface area of the flat, namely built-in furniture and equipment. They put wardrobes in walls, which added several dozen centimetres to wall thickness but saved the interior from unnecessary furniture blocks. Traditional doors were replaced with ceiling-high wings that form a common plane with the walls. Paradoxically, the most important element in that modern home is a set of stylised cutlery. A big, intriguing, black-and-white printout on the wall designates the dining room zone within the multifunctional space of the ground floor and breaks its modern minimalism. At the same time, it also reminds that this up-do-date interior is also a place of traditional meetings at a dining table.
It is unbelievable, how comfortable and spacious can such a small kitchen be. Sophisticated and well thought-over in tiny details, it constitutes an integral part of the living room. It is a combination of discreet grey walls of the cabinets and a compact island with the stove and sink (plus a magnificent view!) Made of white Corian©, the island resembles rather an elegant wardrobe, lit by the steel tube of the ventilation hood, which in turn looks like a modern lamp. The flat panel of the stove looks like a plasma TV set. The back of the kitchen island makes a reference to the elevation of the building. The back wall, which is visible from the outside and can be seen through the glazing, is yellow, just like the entrance door. That specific colour appears again on the first floor. In the corridor and in the study room, the designers introduced a pleasant, soft carpet finish in a joyful yellow colour of daffodils. Owing to that operation those rooms seem to be extremely sunny, although they have not been provided with large glazed areas that work so well downstairs. The first floor has classic windows, which contribute to a higher intimacy.
In a house like that, stairs usually occupy a lot of space. Here the stairs were arranged based on the formula: the simpler, the better. Equal steps running along the wall are limited with an almost invisible railing of tempered glass. The space under the stairs accommodates an extra row of cabinets. The same minimalist idea motivated the designers when planning the bathroom layout. They utilized transparent glass, as well as black and white colours, but also there an element of surprise turned to be inevitable. A funny giraffe, stuck on the wall in the most remote and most intimate spot of the hose acts exactly in the same way as the canary-yellow entrance door. Even if the whole home happens to be quite cold in its atmosphere, it must necessarily be so with a touch of irony.
The first floor corridor is covered with soft, yellow carpet finish (Vorwerk). It relates to the colour of the entrance door and causes that the interior becomes sunny. In contrast to that, plinths are made of brushed steel. Very simple, oak stairs, limited with a tempered glass railing, lead to the first floor.
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