cetatuia loft





Project team:

 arh. Ion Popusoi

carh. Bogdan Preda


Date: 2010

Place: Brasov. Cetatuia street

Status: Built

Total Area: 400 sqm

Photo: Cosmin Dragomir


The building, a compact structure is situated on Cetatuia Street, at the edge of the historical center of Brasov, offering panoramic view  over the mountains and historical center of the city.

Developed on the last three levels the loft was designed,  very conscious  of the value of the site and of the panoramic views it could offer.

The first loft level is an open space comprising the kitchen, dining room and living room, the annexes, technical spaces, office and acces hall, connected to the second and third levels by a  wooden staircase.

The daytime area of the loft (located on the first level of the loft) is organized on two parallel lines, kitchen-dining room, united through the design of the ceiling, and living room-circulation areas.

The differences in height and the arrangement of furniture emphasize the virtual separation between the two regions.

 Windows reach  to the floor, which makes the room appear larger, flooded with light, while roof windows  bring daylight deep down into the living room through the glass flooring.

The stair was reduced to its minimum – the steps.

Railing was almost dematerialized by transparent glass, thus non-essential elements that altered the clear perception of the space where eliminated as much as possible.

 The glass wall on the last floor for the master's bedroom opens a new direction to the living room and farther to the city through the roof windows.

Without these glazed surfaces – horizontal and vertical – the house would have lost a  very important spatial dimension and the relationship between the interior and the landscape.

Strongly emphasized verticality of the living room walls is attenuated by the gallery of openings of various sizes and depths, connecting this room to something beyond the wall,

either inside or outside the house. These are actually the interior decorations of the house.

On the second floor there is an extention of the living room with fire place, sleeping room, bathroom and storage.

The last floor is for master's bedroom and a generous bathroom opened to the outside through a series of roof windows and a partially glazed wall.