Blue Copper Loft is an explorative private residence transformed into an ‘urbane sanctum‘ by ANARCHITECT for a modern-nomadic client. Located in the heart of metropolitan Dubai and set over two floors, this once three-bedroom penthouse property has been creatively reimagined into an open duplex space with a single gallery bedroom.

The bold project brief set by the clients emerged out of their love to experience unique properties and places around the world; leading them to want to live boundless, without the restriction of enclosed rooms in their own home.
The challenging project brief inspired the practice to first focus on the volume of the entire space as one, taking the property back to its shell and then disseminate and define each subsequent space through a rigorous design exploration.

A curated palette of natural and hand-crafted materials with refined junctions and interface details were designed; to express each threshold of the new layouts’ spatial transition. Without the configuration of traditional rooms to contend, circulation space and stairs inherently become extensions of the functional spaces. The design approach to planning the property had to understand the subconscious mind to carefully articulate routes woven through adjoining spaces; so that they would feel like natural thoroughfares to orientate freely and easily around the property without the help of a traditional framework of corridors and doorways.

The original staircase stood dominant in the main living-dining room, overpowering the double-height space, and never letting one truly relax with its strong presence. ANARCHITECT’s answer was to reverse the position of access for the staircase and include a new landing position that would allow the main body of the stair structure to be hidden from view.

As an avant-garde architectural statement, this sculptural staircase insertion now anchors the voluminous living space with the horizontal datum of the upper floor gallery. Completely clad in a turquoise natural copper patina, this elemental form creates the art backdrop to the dining area, shear wall to the staircase and keystone to the cantilevered bridge and frameless glass balustrade above.

Blue Copper Loft challenges the attributes of traditional luxury-living and in turn draws upon a present interpretation of elevated lifestyle that values the freedom of space, abundant natural daylight, privacy and sanctuary, with focus on longevity through timeless natural materials with authentic beauty.

The project used a selected palette of durable, long lasting, aesthetically timeless and contemporary natural materials, carefully sourced from suppliers with environmentally-minded credentials. The property is also purposefully engaged with a constant connection to the time of day and circadian rhythm, whilst each function celebrates basic human behaviors and social rituals with less distraction to feel more harmonious and positively contribute to the inhabitant’s wellbeing.