This Remodelled Zamalek Apartment by Polytropous Epitomises Balance

Remodelled into two completely different flats, one of which is a seasonal studio, this apartment in Zamalek remained connected through a single door that links both zones. Polytropous, an interior and architectural design firm, approached the project knowing well that reshaping a home requires compromising a couple of principles. Like having a corridor cutting through the concrete core of the building, while maintaining a lingering sense of connection between fundamentals such as material, texture, colour, lighting and form.

“It had a sort of haphazardness that provided enough room for creative outputs,” Polytropous’ founder, Ahmed El Sharkawy, tells #SceneHome. “There should always be an underlying dialogue between furniture and the spaces they occupy, like distinctive table tops that are chamfered to ease movement around them.”

Elements within these spaces are arranged in a balanced sense of hierarchy, and are visually connected despite their distinctive characters, giving it a natural sense of coherence. Sometimes it’s better to let design elements fall where they may, rather than forcing them and looking like you’ve put together snippets of a ‘modern design’ search on Pinterest.