High-tech interior design in Batumi: glass, metal and light

What is left of 1970s high-tech

High-tech began in the architecture of the 1970s: buildings put their frame, pipes and lifts on the outside and took pride in showing how they worked. What carried over into apartments was metal and glass, clean lines and a love of technology, but not the exposed pipes. These days they are exactly what gets hidden.

A new build in Batumi suits the style better than you might think. The panoramic windows and the view act as the main picture, and a 2.7–3 m ceiling leaves room for recesses with concealed lighting, as long as you don't put them in every room. We design a high-tech interior starting from the services: first we decide where the appliances go, where the cables run and how to get at them in a few years' time, and only then do we draw the cabinet fronts and the lighting.

Metal by the sea: what stands up to salt

High-tech relies on metal, and by the sea it is chosen by its composition, not its shine. For details by the balcony door, in the bathroom and in the kitchen we use AISI 316 stainless steel: the molybdenum in it resists salt better than the cheaper 304. Partition profiles, handles and furniture legs are ordered in anodised aluminium, whose finish doesn't peel the way paint does.

With chrome, everything depends on the base metal. Chrome-plated brass lasts for years, while chrome on zinc alloy or plastic blisters and flakes in salty air. So for taps, heated towel rails and fittings we check the body material in the data sheet. Brushed steel and graphite finishes are more practical by the sea than mirror chrome: drops and fingerprints show less on them.

In the materials list every metal part has its steel grade or alloy and its type of finish. Without this, the furniture maker or supplier will swap it for something that looks similar, and the difference will only show after a season by the sea.

Glass: partitions, cabinet fronts and glare

In a high-tech interior a glass partition separates the bedroom or study without taking light away from the window. It is made of toughened glass to measurements taken from the finished surfaces, so in the working drawings we give the details for fixing it to the slab and floor, the finished floor level and the type of glass. Which glass and framing are used and how a partition is installed under a stretch ceiling is covered on the page about sliding doors and glass partitions.

Ordinary glass has a green tinge at the edge, and next to a white cabinet front this shows. For a partition on display and for glass kitchen fronts we specify low-iron glass. For the shower we choose glass with a hydrophobic coating: drops roll off it, and limescale builds up more slowly.

Gloss and glass opposite a panoramic window catch the sun. In the daytime, glare from a glossy cabinet front hits you in the eyes as you sit on the sofa, and in a listing photo it turns into a white patch. So the fronts that face the window are matt or satin, and we keep gloss for places that direct sun doesn't reach.

Lighting: lines, recesses and scenes

In high-tech, lighting is built into the architecture: a line in the ceiling, lighting under a wall-hung unit, a recess along a wall, a profile in a step. We lay out every line from the furniture plan, because lighting that runs into a wardrobe or passes over a sofa off-centre looks like a mistake. The recess for concealed lighting is built from plasterboard, and with a 2.7 m ceiling we put it around the perimeter or above the kitchen and leave the middle of the room at full height. How the recess, the slot and the access hatch to the power supply are made is covered on the page about multi-level ceilings.

We choose one colour temperature for the whole apartment, in high-tech usually 3000–3500 K. Under cold light from 5000 K, high-tech starts to look like an operating theatre. The brightness of the lines is controlled with a dimmer or lighting scenes: in the evening only the accent lighting is on, and during the day the task lighting in the kitchen and by the desk.

Appliances, storage and smart home

In high-tech the appliances are built in: the oven and fridge behind cabinet fronts, the TV in a recess flush with the wall, speakers in the ceiling. For each item the drawings need the recess dimensions, the socket position and the ventilation gap from the manufacturer's instructions. A built-in fridge without a gap behind the plinth grille wears itself out, and a TV in a closed recess overheats.

We usually open handleless cabinet fronts in high-tech with an electric drive: it responds to a light touch, but it needs a socket inside the cabinet, and that socket goes on the kitchen elevation. Where a mechanical push-to-open latch is enough and where a profile handle is better is covered on the page about minimalist interiors. Doors to the rooms are often hidden doors, flush with the wall, so that the door leaf doesn't compete with the smooth surface.

A smart home isn't essential for high-tech: the style is set by materials and lighting, not by an app. We still almost always build in the groundwork for it, because it can't be added later without chasing the walls: deep back boxes for relays, a socket for the hub in the middle of the apartment, a cable to the valves at the water inlet. Which system an owner living abroad needs and what has to work without the internet is covered on the page about a smart home for your apartment.

High-tech in a rental apartment

A guest stays in the apartment for a few days and has to find their way around it without instructions. Motorised curtains get a backup button by the window, a switch by the entrance turns off all the lights, and we choose built-in appliances with clear knobs and buttons, not ones that can only be controlled from an app.

Matt black looks sleek, but it shows every drop, speck of dust and streak after cleaning. For a rental we choose graphite, metallic grey and matt white, on which marks disappear. We don't put in glass coffee tables or worktops: they get wiped after every guest, and a chipped edge is dangerous.

What to combine high-tech with

High-tech's closest relative is minimalism, and many apartments end up somewhere between the two. Wood takes the chill off the style: an oak wall behind the bed or a veneered worktop next to glass and steel. High-tech is mixed with contemporary style through furniture and lighting, but it doesn't go with classic or Provence: mouldings next to a glass partition look out of place.

What most often spoils high-tech

• a glossy stretch ceiling that reflects every spotlight;
• cold light and fittings of different colour temperatures in one room;
• devices from several apps that don't work together;
• lighting power supplies sealed into plasterboard with no access hatch;
• sockets placed “to the standard”, even though the appliances sit in cupboards and recesses;
• cheap chrome on alloy and black steel in the bathroom;
• a solid glass wall up to the ceiling with no fresh air supply to the bedroom.

How much a high-tech interior costs in Batumi

A full high-tech design project costs from 145 to 190 ₾ per m² of floor area. Besides the layout, 3D and working drawings, it includes a plan of the recesses with concealed lighting, the glass partition details and a smart home layout. All of this is then installed under the renovation estimate. A plasterboard recess for concealed lighting costs from 72 to 96 ₾ per linear metre, a glass partition in aluminium or steel framing from 830 ₾ per m² installed, and a basic smart home for a 50–80 m² apartment from 5,100 to 7,200 ₾.

In high-tech the renovation estimate is driven most by glass, lighting and appliances, not by the wall finishes. The design costs more when it includes a lot of built-in appliances and recesses, glass and metal pieces made to drawings, and lighting scenes room by room. A studio, where high-tech only needs the kitchen, one partition and linear lighting, comes out cheaper. The final cost is set after the measured survey and agreement on the list of appliances, glass and devices.