In 1924, Dutch socialite Truus Schröder commissioned architect Gerrit Rietveld to build her a house that embodied her progressive ideals about family life. She requested that the Utrecht home be free of boundaries and constraints, so Rietveld designed a completely open floor plan with sliding walls that allowed for flexibility. This clever, ahead-of-its-time setup not only earned the structure a UNESCO World Heritage Site listing, but also inspired Studiomama’s recent renovation of a compact North London abode.
Cofounders Nina Tolstrup and Jack Mama were tasked with updating a 580-square-foot lower ground floor apartment whose complex layout resulted in wasted space and dark corners. To solve these issues, they swapped the muddled arrangement for a Rietveld Schröder House–style open concept with sliding walls and doors that maximize the small footprint and help spread natural light throughout.
Much like Truus, Studiomama also sought to forge a connection between the indoors and outdoors, so they built two sleeping pods that facilitated a view to the garden. Now, the leafy backyard is visible from the entry landing. “We wanted to have this sightline through the entire space and putting in bigger bedrooms would’ve compromised that,” Jack reasons.
Nina and Jack also took aesthetic cues from the Rietveld Schröder House, opting for a similar color-blocked look. But while the historic home is doused in primary tones, Studiomama opted for a softer palette of rose, pistachio, and sage. More vivid shades like banana yellow and sky blue only appear inside closets and cabinets for a playful pop. “We were quite aware of when you are in a lower ground floor flat not to have colors that consume too much of the light and are too overwhelming,” Nina explains.