In Zürich’s serene suburbs, a 1930s semi-detached house stands as a canvas of quiet evolution, embodying almost a century of design ethos. Its latest renovation by Ductus Studio is not an upheaval but a nuanced dialogue between eras—a seamless interplay of the home's original charm, a daring 1980s intervention, and a meticulous modern reinterpretation.
This house carries a layered story. First came its 1930s birth: functional, orderly, and quietly elegant. Then, in the early 1980s, an architect couple introduced a bold gesture—a grid of white floor tiles. Their crisp geometry was emblematic of the era, yet today feels surprisingly timeless. Ductus approached the renovation as a careful custodian of these dual identities. The challenge was not reinvention but refinement: to embrace the rhythms of the past while amplifying them with materials and techniques that resonate today.
Central to this transformation is the bathroom, a space that invites pause. Here, warm tones of Pink Perlino marble set a counterpoint to the crisp white tiles. The marble introduces softness, its geometric veining echoing the structured lines of the house’s bones. Rounded corners—both in the furniture and the corner mirrors—hint at the fluid curves of 1930s modernism, reinterpreted with restraint.
Perhaps the most striking element is what Ductus chose to leave untouched. The white tiles, iconic of the 1980s renovation, remain as a unifying thread. They stretch across the transitional spaces and staircases, weaving a continuous narrative through the home. Where tiles were missing, they were seamlessly supplemented, ensuring a flow that feels unbroken.
The design’s ethos goes beyond surfaces. By upgrading the heating system and windows, Ductus subtly modernized the house without disrupting its aesthetic integrity. It’s an approach that prioritizes sustainability, not through flashy interventions but through thoughtful stewardship.
This home is not a glossy manifesto of modernity or a purist homage to history. It’s something far richer: a meditation on how spaces live and change. Its design choices—carefully balancing preservation and renewal—invite us to rethink the meaning of timelessness. Not as stasis, but as a living, breathing evolution where old and new speak in harmony.
