Living, Climate and Art
Architecture / Interior Design
2024
A bold design for a house to celebrate living alongside art. Climatically designed and future-proofed to be elderly friendly.
As an inter-terrace, we approach this typology as a reimagination of a tall space between two neighbours as one continuous airspace, where its spacious volume is appreciated in totality, rather than oft-experienced as segmented smaller front- and rear-facing rooms. This approach led to the conception of strategically highlighting several expressed object volumes placed within the spatial envelope of a house, where the 2 party walls act as white canvases defining the limits of the airspace.
The triple volume void holds these object volumes, like the 1st storey kitchen-powder room green block, the ribbon curved glass-clad spiral stair, a barn-like 2-storey “volume within a volume” enclosing the 3 private bedrooms, are celebrated as volumetric, artful and distinct objects anchored in space. Every other space is communal area and circulation tying the objects together. For example, the 1stand 2nd storeys are separated by a perforated corridor floor, hence continuing the perception of continuity of space. The spiral stair stands in the void which connects all three floors, its treads cantilevered from a central structural pipe, sculpturally expressive and self supporting as it acts also as a buffer from the south-western sun. The master bedroom internal attic balcony commands an overview of the house through this void, corridor and stair.
The house owner is an avid art collector and has built the house in anticipation of family members moving in later to join her. The attic master bedroom is at the apex of the vaulted roof volume, where sliding doors allow complete privacy but when open, allows the owner complete spatial (and hence aural) awareness of activities around the house. All 3 bedrooms are designed as an enclosable private volume nested within common areas such as the open stair landing foyers and perforated corridor. The 2nd storey bedrooms are enclosable with full-height pivoting doors detailed to have artwork easily hung from the top on both sides. In so doing, the pivoting panels can be opened and arranged as free-standing art easels gallery-style, or enclose 2 rooms for elderly parents or both. This consideration for future-proofing the house has turned into opportunities for alternative design solutions.
Solar simulation was used to design the roofs of this south-western sun facing house. The resultant was a front- and back-pitching roof, where the front roof was able to partially shelter the rear roof, and solar panels were placed on both. Another barrel-shaped roof funnelling at the front and rear then visually separates the house from its row-like neighbours, bringing into center, an assertion of the house’s own distinct form.
Fair-faced brickwork on the façades in running tone sees construction detailing employed around creating brick arched eaves and the dissolution of opacity into a sheer skin detailed as a brick-slip screen double door. The use of the brick in different applications: as a screen, as a wall, as an eave, explores variations with a single material, that for us, sets this project apart in architectural interest.
Photos by Finbarr Fallon
A double-roof with solar panels on top, insulates an expressed vault-shaped form where customised design with solid brick and openable brick slip sun screens and a glass-clad spiral stair give a strong facade expression to the house in the neighbourhood.
In the house, there is abundant natural light without heat, from the stair facade, floor above and rear. The inter-terrace space is fully utilized for everyday living amongst art.
The spiral stair is both optimised space for circulation and sculptural as it foregrounds the natural light from living spaces inside. A perforated metal corridor floor and void on the 2nd storey creates connection between the 1st and 2nd storeys so that family members are well-connected.
A Hunter-green compact block on the ground floor conceals a pantry, powder room and storage loft, freeing up the rest of the space for living, dining and resting.
The coming together of a home lift, local art and sculpted architecture create a calm, composed retreat.
The kitchen and dining space comes together for quality family interaction. A quiet palette of furniture and interior helps highlight the signature lighting fixtures.
A customised brick-slip screen can be de-coupled from the glass door but together they provide shade, privacy and interest to the art-infused interiors. The curved glass of the spiral stair shields the first hit of the sun.
Exterior landscape is in close proximity to the spiral stair, enclosable by sliding curved glass doors.
The stair is the main circulation of the house but it anchors the space as its own sculptural form within inter-connecting corridors, family areas and voids that connects all 3 floors.
Bedrooms are defined into clear, expressed forms enclosed, but also can open completely into common areas, ensuring elderly and young are fully engaged within the same common spaces when desired.
Along the art-filled corridor that leads into two connecting bedrooms with a shared en-suite bathroom, full-height doors that are also art easels, intergrate this common space as part of extended bedroom space when all rooms open to be connected. Flexible Living with Operable Walls: When closed, they provide privacy to the bedrooms; when pivoted open, they seamlessly dissolve boundaries, allowing rooms to spill into the double-storey hallway and adapt to the changing needs of daily life.
At the attic, an indoor balcony overlooks the triple volume void below. The window here also allows the rear-to-front natural wind tunnel air circulation for the rest of the house, while preserving the privacy of the master bedroom.
Dynamic Spatial Flow: The Art of the Flexible Corridor The double-volume space elevates the home’s scale, drawing the eye upward along a curated gallery wall. This vertical expanse creates a powerful sense of openness, interconnecting the different levels of the home. A Conduit for Light and Air: Designed to breathe, the open-plan layout and high-level glazing work in tandem to flood the deep interior with soft natural light and promote passive cross-ventilation, ensuring the home feels continuously fresh, bright, and deeply connected to the elements.
An Artful Escape: The Curious Appeal of the Modern Powder Room. Stepping into this thoughtfully designed powder room feels less like entering a functional space and more like discovering a hidden, artful sanctuary. The design thrives on deliberate contrast, blending moody ambiance with Rombini wall tiles by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec and Mattonelle Margherita floor distinctive artwork floor tiles to create an experience that is both curious and delightfully surprising.
The true focal point of the space is the dynamic conversation between shapes. To the left, an arched timber-framed window introduces a warm, organic curve that beautifully frames the exterior outlook. This soft geometry is echoed on the right by a custom, capsule-shaped vanity mirror, injecting a sense of architectural playfulness into the room’s daily rituals.
