Madurastraat is a fascinating apartment renovation project that I had a chance to fully supervise. The building where the apartment is located was built in 1930 and is one of the Amsterdam regional monuments (gemeentelijke monument).

My clients went abroad for 6 months and asked me to help them with this project, find a contractor, a carpenter, get permissions from the Monumentenzorg in Amsterdam and advise them to choose right textures, materials and colours. Floor wooden beams in this building had never been replaced or even treated. When a contractor opened the floor, we saw that beams were completely rotten and eaten by woodworms.  They had to be replaced or the new beams were needed to be placed next to original ones after being treated properly. We got the permission for the second option from the Monumentenzorg. The original kitchen was custom-made by a carpenter in Poland. Afterwards all its parts travelled from there to be assembled in Amsterdam by contractors: Zelbouw and Rafal Karaczun Meubels.

An old house renovation means surprises. Luckily we managed to solve all issues and deliver great results. This project was a collaboration with another architect Francina Checo. I look forward to more teamworks like this one.