Arch design in the interior of the apartment

The design of doorways in the form of an arch is a popular architectural technique that has its own characteristics. Its shape and size play a big role in creating a well-planned interior space. The choice of material for manufacturing and decoration - arches are one of the important design elements of a house or apartment.

Arches are a way to model the architectural space of a room. Structurally, it is an arc or a straight beam, lying on two supports, designed to distribute the load from the overlap of doorways of a special shape.

For the first time, arched structures appear in ancient religious buildings. Stonehenge is one example of this design. The third one rests horizontally on top of two granite blocks. This method is used at a later time for the construction of vaults in the temples of Egypt and Greece. Later, architects discovered the property of a curved arch to withstand a greater load than a rectilinear one, and began to use pointed arches in the construction of majestic palazzo in Italy, religious objects in Byzantium. Medieval European architecture creates a Gothic system of arches for the construction of colossal palaces and Catholic churches. In Russia, arches are also widely used in the construction of dome vaults in towers and churches, only their shape is slightly smoother.

Having a long history of use, arches also occupy one of the central places in modern architecture, their form is constantly being modified and changing depending on the required functionality.

The tradidionic arch is installed in the doorway.

This technique is borrowed from the architecture of palaces and royal chambers, it creates a sense of grandeur and luxury, especially with appropriate decoration.

The arched structure is especially relevant if the apartment is small. Several small separate rooms in terms of area are combined with the help of arched openings, abandoning interior doors between the hallway, room and kitchen. The square turns into one large one, and the vaults of the openings separate the entrance area from the recreation area and from the food intake area.

In large living rooms, such techniques are used for zoning the interior space. You can separate the dining room from the place for communication between households.

In the bedroom you can separate a bed and a small work space, in the nursery - a bed and a corner for games.

If it is not possible to abandon the doors and the room must be isolated, then an arched doorway is mounted. In this case, a special vault is built, arched doors of the same shape or rectangular are inserted into it, the upper part is made of the same material in the form of an insert above the top of the door frame.

Decorative types of arc-shaped window openings are often used. It looks especially impressive if the same vault shape is present in the doorways. To emphasize the style of the interior, they build lancet or semicircular wall niches, repeating the shape of the entrance groups. Backlighting in such a niche creates an atmosphere of depth and mystery.An arched decorative vault over a fireplace or kitchen set highlights the place of the "hearth" in the house.

Let's take a closer look at how best to position the arch in the interior of an apartment or house. In serial residential multi-apartment construction, replacing part of the doors with this architectural element makes the room unique.

Design solutions are very diverse, any form of the entrance opening is allowed, corresponding to the style concept. However, the dimensions of the room must be taken into account. So, if the ceilings are low, then it is better to replace the lancet forms of the ceiling with semicircular ones. The width of the room also determines the size of the arched opening - it can be supported by small consoles adjacent to the walls. Then zoning can be fixed with various types of finishes in the flooring and walls, or vice versa, a wide arched structure can be replaced by a series of narrow vaults resting on columns located across the room.

In an ordinary one-room apartment, it is better to focus on choosing a modern style solution, while the classic requires a larger area. Modern will be good here. The exotic form of the vault, behind which the intimate sleeping area will be located, looks very romantic. In studio rooms, you can create several entrances and conditionally separate the kitchen, living room, bedroom.

The rejection of traditional doors in favor of arched openings in small apartments saves space, increases the usable area, has an aesthetic component, and helps to correct layout flaws.

For example, a long corridor decorated with arches makes the space wider and clearer in function. They resort to the allocation of the entrance zone by the first vault, the second - the groups of public premises - the hall, the living room, the dining room. The third arch will separate the exits to the corridor of bedrooms, nursery, office. If necessary, designate utility and utility rooms.

The best option is the location of the arches in the hallway, between the dining room and kitchen, living room and dining room. But not only vaulted structures are erected between the rooms, such elements look spectacular in front of a warm balcony or terrace, especially if the unusual shape of the opening contour is used.

There is a huge variety of sizes and shapes of arched structures, which are determined by the layout and architectural features of the house. When installing this element in panel or monolithic houses, the size will be limited by the width and height of the existing doorway. Changing these dimensions will require the architect to calculate the load-bearing capacity of the new structure in order to comply with the safety requirements for the operation of the building. You will also have to carry out construction work on dismantling with the involvement of special equipment, which will entail additional costs.

Reliability of performance is the main condition for the design of openings. The bearing load from the overlap is redistributed to the side parts of the space: consoles, columns, piers.

Such openings look good for functional zoning of one room.For example, in the living room combined with the kitchen, on one side of the arch, a kitchen set with the necessary equipment is installed, a dining group is placed, and on the other side of the arch there are sofas, a coffee table, possibly a fireplace with armchairs.

When decorating interior transitions, sizes close to standard doorways are used - for single-leaf or double-leaf doors.

Modern technologies make it possible to equip almost any opening structure with sliding or swing doors, therefore, if necessary, any room or part of it can be isolated. For example, separate a temporary sleeping space for guests in the hall with a convertible or folding door installed in an arched vault.

The height of the vaulted opening also varies depending on the style of the interior and functionality.

The general design of the room will tell you which shape of the arch to give preference to. For classic interiors or in Provence and Mediterranean styles, semicircular structures are suitable - the so-called Florentine arches. The semicircular element visually increases the height of the room, adds "air". Modern minimalist trends in decoration bring a sense of lightness and fit well into any interior.

If the height of the opening is insufficient, the segmental shape of the structure is used when the radius of the arch is more than half the width of the doorway. Sometimes the arc can only be slightly rounded, but in this form the space will be visually higher and lighter.

In the dividing zone for the kitchen and dining room or similar premises, wide three-center or pseudo-three-center structures are often used. This is a strongly elongated and slightly rounded (in the second case, only in the corners) vault. This shape is close to the square or rectangular shape of the portal, the rigid lines of which correspond to the ultra-modern, energetic and fast-paced design trends.

The parabolic type of construction corresponds to the Moroccan and Arabic styles - it is a semicircle stretching closer to the ceiling.

In interiors made in art deco design, art nouveau, an ellipse structure will be a good solution.

In non-standard cases, when it is necessary to maintain the stability of the structure, using a window sill or balustrade zone, arches are installed in the form of an incomplete circle with a rounded not only upper, but also a lower part or in the form of a keyhole.

The Art Nouveau style introduced into the architecture of apartments the smooth lines of arched openings of a floristic orientation in the form of a flower petal or a curved stem, where there are no corners at all.

For each shape and purpose of the arched opening, you can choose the appropriate finishing material. The basic structure of the vaulted floor in large-scale construction projects is the construction reinforcement, made to the shape of the span. For apartments and private houses, lightweight structures made of metal profiles or wood are provided.

The traditional material for making arches is drywall on a metal profile frame. Any shape of arch bending can be cut from the sheet according to the design project.

It is a material resistant to temperature and humidity.

It does not change its characteristics when exposed to ultraviolet rays, it is strong enough to be used as a basis for decoration with stone, tiles, wood. Minimalism in decoration allows simply plastering the structure from drywall and wallpapering, as in the rest of the room. In the span of the arch itself, decoration with stucco moldings is used.

Arch openings can be trimmed with wood and decorated with carvings. But it must be remembered that wood edging makes the interior heavy. Several types of wood are poorly combined in one room. Framing with wood requires the installation of interior doors and an entrance door with interior decoration of the same wood or veneer, and furniture in rooms adjacent to the arch is made of the same types of wood.

A budgetary replacement for arches made of natural wood or veneer steel structures made of polymeric materials with various surface textures, for different types of wood, stone, brick. A pleasant addition to the affordable price is the ease of maintenance and practicality of such a finish.

In the construction industry, arches of various modifications made of plaster are produced. Gypsum is cast in the forms required by the architectural concept, made in the form of modules and decorative overlays with various decor. Often these are parts of an arched span, decorated with ornaments. Columns with capitals are also cast in a given style. These parts are mounted or simply glued to the supporting walls and ceiling, the joints are plastered and then the whole structure is decorated in the colors of the interior. From plaster, you can cast volumetric figures to decorate an arched opening. It is more convenient to cut out bulky finishing elements from foam, glue in the necessary places, make decor according to other parts of the opening. Styrofoam will greatly facilitate the construction.

Often, wall space is decorated with paintings or mosaics up to the bending corner of the vault.

The arched opening can be completely made of metal, with decorative glass elements with stained glass or other ornaments. The side pillars and roof rail are illuminated to add artistic expression to this architectural element. The use of materials for decoration is limited only by the imagination of the owners of the house: wood, metal, stucco, natural stone, drawing, glass.

Everyone familiar with the basics of construction can build and decorate an arch with their own hands. Manufacturers offer easy-to-use plastic imitation of brick and masonry, which is not difficult to revet such an opening.

The side racks can be nicely framed with curtains. If you sheathe pieces of upholstered furniture with the same fabric, this will help to refine the interior.

Identical lambrequins with tassels will allow you to decorate arched openings located in a row.

Making an arch in the form of a semicircular rack with shelves is an interesting design idea. If you are not afraid to overload the interior, be sure to take note of this "trick".

Sometimes the room can be irregular. You have to look for options on how to play it beautifully, hide the flaws and highlight the advantages. This option with an arch in the kitchen is just one of this series.

Arches with stained-glass windows give the interior an oriental flavor, let in more light, and look light and elegant.

For how to make a drywall arch with your own hands, see the next video.