Replus Bureau avoids "nostalgic reconstruction" in Ukrainian villa renovation
Ukrainian architecture studio Replus Bureau has renovated a 20th-century villa in Lviv, contrasting the exposed surfaces of its historic shell with contemporary extensions and finishes.
Named Villa Quince after a neighbouring grove of fruit trees, the dwelling near Znesinnia Park was originally designed in 1906 in a neoclassical style and altered by the architect Józef Hornung in 1922.
By the time Replus Bureau were tasked with renovating the home, it had stood abandoned for many years and was falling into disrepair.
Alongside the repair and restoration of the villa's shell, the studio added cubic volumes to expand its ground floor and create an additional storey, offering deliberate contrasts to the original structure that continue through the interiors.
"We were not interested in imitation," the studio told Dezeen. "The new volumes remain calm and restrained, allowing the historic architecture to stay legible."
"The project's idea became clear: avoid nostalgic reconstruction. In a way, we wanted the building to tell a simple story in the future: that it lived through different periods and was reconstructed in 2025," it added.
"The same dialogue between old and new continues in the interior, where restored historic elements coexist with carefully placed contemporary interventions."
The original enfilade-style layout of Villa Quince was maintained, with a study, bedroom and bathroom wrapping a kitchen at the centre of the ground floor.
This kitchen now flows into a ground-floor extension, where a living and dining area overlooks the surrounding gardens through two corners of full-height glazing.
Above, the first-floor extension contains three ensuite bedrooms, housed within a pale rendered, rectilinear volume that projects above the roofline of the existing villa.
Throughout Villa Quince, fragments of historic wall finishes have been exposed, which informed the pale tones of the newly-plastered surfaces that surround them.
These surfaces are complemented by deep brown parquet floors and bathrooms clad with alabaster tiles, while the upstairs bathrooms have a more contemporary palette of mosaic tiles in grey and coral.
"The most important aspect was preserving balance: reconstruction in a historic environment is always unpredictable, and the process becomes a continuous adjustment between preservation and transformation," explained the studio.
"French herringbone parquet in a deep inky tone anchors the main rooms, while a tall brass skirting board runs through the spaces like a continuous line. Bathrooms reinterpret Art Nouveau traditions through mosaics, alabaster tiles and plastered surfaces," Replus Bureau added,
"The doors are fitted with sculptural handles by Tom Dixon – deliberately contemporary and slightly ironic within the historic setting."
Similar restorations recently featured on Dezeen include the updating of a 1930s villa in Poland by Wiercinski Studio, where revealing the "raw and honest" layers of the home informed a series of industrial-feeling bespoke fittings and furniture pieces.
In a recent Dezeen feature, Ukrainian designers explained how the ongoing war with Russia has made the country's interiors "bolder and more interesting".
The photography is by Andriy Bezuglov.
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