Slide House GCB
The Slide House
Architecture / Interior Design
2024
A slide in the sun, circulation can be fun. For a wonderful, youthful family.
A custom-built slide and courtyard pool as a multi-generation bungalow home. Fun, practical, spacious; the home is future-proofed for growth.
This residential design effortlessly reframes everyday movement, turning a routine trip out of the house into an experience of pure joy. By seamlessly intertwining sculptural form with lighthearted utility, the home proves that thoughtful design can embrace a spirit of fun.
The Daily Descent, Redefined: Nestled right alongside a curving architectural staircase is an integrated slide. Designed not just as a novelty but for daily use, it offers a fast, playful alternative for navigating the home's levels, injecting a sense of child-like wonder into the modern living space.
Sculptural Drama Under a Skylight: The entire composition is housed within a expressed cylinder. Piercing the ceiling directly above this center is a circular skylight, which floods the void with natural light and views of the trees above. The changing path of the sun draws out the soft, organic shadows of both the spiral stair and the sweeping slide, transforming the circulation zone into a dynamic light well.
Unusually tall, black-framed arched windows emphasize the vertical volume of the living space while drawing the eye toward a private central courtyard. Enclosed by the surrounding wings of the house, this protected outdoor sanctuary becomes a layered visual backdrop, flooding the interior with natural light and anchors the spaces surrounding. Balanced by minimalist vertical sconces, the monumental glazing establishes a seamless connection between the home's indoor luxury and its outdoor fun.
This double-volume living area balances architectural scale with soft, flowing lines and edges. The arched windows mirror the fluidity of the sweeping spiral staircase. By complementing vertical volumes with expressive curves and a structured coffered ceiling, the design softens the expansive space, creating a home that feels both grand and inviting.
Enclosed by the surrounding wings of the home, this private outdoor courtyard acts as an anchor that unites the entire interior layout. Viewed from multiple vantage points through arched glazing, the timber-decked terrace extends the living spaces outside where a plunge pool and open-air relaxation extends into the daily fabric of the home.
Flanked by symmetrical but offset arched windows, this central courtyard is an elevated viewing platform that frames expansive vistas of the landscape beyond. The timber deck opens up to the sky while integrating a lowered plunge pool into its surface, creating a seamless, airy connection between the home's distinct wings and the horizon beyond.
The dining room centers around a large dining table that can extends directly from the kitchen island to seat 20 guests, offering a perfect setting for large-scale gatherings. Framed by expansive floor-to-ceiling glass doors, the space looks out onto a manicured landscape where the cylindrical volume that conceals the spiral staircase, slide, and overhead skylight—become a sculptural focal point within the garden.
Viewed from the spiral staircase, this double-volume living area establishes a fluid dialogue with nature through strategically layered openings. The polished dark floor serves as a reflective canvas, catching natural light from arched windows while framed vignettes of the azure plunge pool, skyline and internal vertical green wall collapse the boundary between inside and out, creating a connection inside and out.
Photography by Finbarr Fallon