Living office
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Flexible instead of fixed
When Johan Tran moved into his 51-square-metre apartment in an old building in the middle of Oslo, it was very compartmentalised. While this is typical of Norway's capital city, it wasn't what he was looking for. So Tran came up with a design that fused traditional Japanese aesthetics with Scandi chic. Together with his girlfriend Hafdís Sunna Hermannsdóttir, who comes from Iceland, he created an apartment where two worlds flow together.
The entire apartment was redesigned from top to bottom:
Their first step was to completely gut the old apartment
Tran opted for an open-plan layout that was much more spacious
Instead of walls, the apartment has sliding doors up to the ceiling that create flexible spacesfor living, cooking and working
Built around just a few discreet materials, the space evokes calm andtranquillity. The furniture and sliding doors are made of beech veneer,with brass details
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"We played with flexibility. The sliding doors give us the option of combining two rooms," say Johan Tran and Hafdís Sunna Hermannsdóttir.
Space for work and relaxation
"If we'd used permanent walls to zone off the study, we wouldn't have been able to use the space after work," Johan Tran says. When the doors are open, the office becomes one with the living room. "All we have to do is close the room divider between the office and living room and we can both work in a relaxed way during the day. It also creates a nice and private guest bedroom at night," the architect says. Vertical slots have been milled into the sliding doors so that daylight can stream into the living room.
Tran designed the desk in the study himself and paired it with an Ole Wanscher daybed, a timeless design classic dating back to 1949. Green house plants like the monstera also improve the air quality. The large leaves convert CO2 into oxygen, and the plants also add moisture to the air.
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Thanks to the wall hung desk, which Tran designed himself, the herringbone hardwood floor is in full view. "I like the classic look of the flooring," says Tran. "What's more, the pattern breaks up the strict lines."
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Johan and his girlfriend use the flexible walls to either zone off a quiet space for work or make their living room bigger.
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The daybed by Danish design icon Ole Wanscher gives Johan and his girlfriend the perfect place to relax in the study.
Shutting out the kitchen chaos
The room dividers in the study also close the kitchen off from the rest of the apartment. This lets the couple conceal the cooking area quickly and easily. Although they are very proud of it, they don't necessarily want it on show all the time. Made from natural, light-coloured beech veneer, the fronts blend seamlessly into the overall vibe of the apartment. But the kitchen also has a few surprises in store. Most older buildings come with projecting walls, alcoves and corners that result in dead space. Johan Tran has reclaimed these tiny spaces and come up with effective solutions for every nook and cranny in the kitchen. Tucked between the refrigerator and wall is a spice rack just 20 centimetres wide. "You can straighten up the lines by closing awkward spaces," Johan says. The effect is amazing: everything is streamlined and tidy with so much storage space.
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Like the rest of the wooden elements in the space, the fronts in the compact, built-in kitchen are treated with a natural furniture care product.
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The kitchen can be closed off in an instant with the dividing walls.
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Brass details lend continuity to the overall design of the space.
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Timeless dining room
Tran has enhanced the tranquil setting in the dining room with some timeless design classics. This includes the 1960s dining chairs, a second hand find that he restored himself. And Tran came up with the design for the dining table in the living room: "It's the standard height to ensure that you can sit in a relaxed position," he notes. "But we've adapted its width and length to the size of the room." Soft fabrics like the large rug under the dining table counter the straight lines.
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Combining design classics with modern simplicity: the dining chairs date back to the 1960s, while Tran designed the dining table himself. Green creates a contrast to the light wood, and the large plants improve the indoor air quality.
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Made of brass, the metal band on the dining table Johan designed himself is one of many little details waiting to be discovered in the apartment.
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Johan Tran's design ideas are used throughout the apartment: the sliding doors used as partition walls are not the only elements that feature vertical slots. The wall shelf in the dining room has them too.
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Clear lines – not just for small living areas
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All advantages at a glance:
Situated in an older building, the apartment has an open-plan layout with flexible sliding doors instead of walls
Kitchen, working and living areas flow into one another
Beech veneer and brass: using just a few materials creates a visual calm
Lines in the old apartment were straightened by using nooks and crannies as valuable storage space – for instance, with a narrow spice rack in the kitchen
The decor is a fusion of timeless design classics and Tran's own ideas
Fabrics counter the straight lines, house plants improve the room climate
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