I met my clients, Zhou and Chen, through an app and chatted for about 2 hours in the studio.
The original building height of their flat house was 3.8m, however, due to a large number of interlocking beams limiting the available floor height to only 3.5m, it could not be made into a LOFT space where both double storeys could stand upright, and there was a two-step drop and sliding door division between the balcony and the living room, and the balcony that failed to dissolve into the interior appeared independent. This makes the overall space more confined.
The two people wanted to have plenty of storage space but also to meet the needs of their friends’ gathering space.
Afterwards, I designed seven different floor heights according to the frequency of use and comfort of the whole house, using a staggered relationship between height and space to divide the space and finally achieve a comfortable and useful experience.
▲Original site photo
▲Changing the structure of the room
The couple lives in a total area of 60 square metres, with a storage area of 29 square metres.
1F: The study,luxury living room furniture, kitchen, dining room and balcony functions are all integrated in an open plan, allowing the whole space to maintain its open character and separation of movement and quiet. The laundry and storage rooms can be accessed through the balcony and staircase side doors respectively, allowing for a circular movement line and more convenient storage and operation.
2F: The first floor bedroom is framed by a steel structure, preserving privacy and using the entire bookcase as a partition wall, with a hidden storage room and laundry room directly below the bedroom.
The high frequency bedroom and laundry room retain their regular height.
▲Schematic floor plan
A space is divided up by space, carefully sized to calculate a reasonable floor height and improve space utilisation.
▲Sketchup rendering after renovation
01
Entrance hall furniture
The entrance foyer, to meet the common shoe and clothing storage, leaves the upper and lower shoe cabinets white, respectively concealed LED light strips, compared to the top of the cabinets, the gentle indirect lighting makes the space according to the permeability.
To the left of the entrance door, an under-hanging cornice light slot has been made to make it more convenient to go up and down the stairs at night, concealing indirect LED lighting.
The most important feature of this household goods type is the height of the floor, the total height of the rough floor is 3.8m, but due to the complexity of the beams and the many ducts such as air ducts, the living room is kept with a full ceiling and no main light above the beams to retain the 3.5m height under the floor.
The floor is partially raised by 50cm to enhance storage space and at the same time naturally form the prototype of a sunken luxury living room furniture.
The bookshelf behind the sofa acts as a divider between the luxury living room furniture and the storage room and allows the owner easy access to books. (The flooring was joined to the desk and sofa by a very experienced carpenter on site)
There was a sliding door between the original living room and the balcony. Removing the sliding door and raising the floor also solved the problem of the high bay window and the visual obstruction of the original building.
The floor cabinets are made on site using ecological panels and a multi-layered substrate with wood flooring, and have 10 square metres of storage space.
The cabinet is easy to clean with a handheld vacuum cleaner.
The underneath of the walkway space is used as storage space. For easy cleaning there is no handle installed in the design, the door is pulled up using suction cups and it is easy to take items away.
A movable metal square tube separates the boxes to ensure that they are not deformed when stepping on the floor and to make better use of the space by placing the large storage boxes.
Desk area storage cabinet
02
Dining and kitchen area furniture
The refrigerator was pre-selected at the time of design and space was reserved according to its dimensions, leaving a gap of 5 cm on each side of the refrigerator to ensure that the door could be fully opened and fully recessed into the wall. It also shares a wall with the shoe cabinet in the entrance to save space.
The kitchen is a high-frequency area to reduce the impact of grease and oil, and the 600 wide (3 full tiles) tiled floor is seamlessly integrated with the wooden flooring to make it easier to care for. The dining table can be used as an island when there is not enough counter top.
The kitchen and dining area is illuminated by 3 types of lighting: 3000K colour temperature spotlights for ambient lighting on the ceiling and 4000K colour temperature induction lighting underneath the pendant cabinets for easy access to the prime areas of the flooring and worktops.
The 3500K colour temperature decorative chandelier is positioned around 75cm above the dining table to provide a good ambience for eating and to ensure that each area is well lit.
The wall near the cooker has been painted with chalkboard paint to make it easier to clean up any soup that may have been accidentally fried on the wall during cooking.
A 1200*900 cavity board is hung on the wall near the cooking area, so that you can hang up your favourite kitchen utensils for easy access, and edible plants such as rosemary and mint can also be hung up as decoration for easy use.
A handful of flowers, two dishes and a soup, this is a simple life for two people.
03
Meeting area furniture
In order to provide a comfortable backrest for the person sitting on the sofa, the area around the sofa has been raised so that the sofa cushions do not get dirty when cleaning the dust on the floor.
Control of the size and proportions is the key to a small home, as the overall space is compact and not tight, allowing more space for movement.
I wanted to customise the walnut coffee table, but after waiting for half a year, I couldn’t wait to buy a finished coffee table, but there is still a certain difference in height with the potted plants, which is a small regret.
The coffee table and the custom-made metal plant box are used as a connection between the living room and the balcony, bringing the two spaces together and making them closer.
The owner likes to keep flowers and plants so that the water doesn’t accidentally stain the wall when watering them, and a full surface of jazz white marble was made under the windowsill.
The desk is both a TV cabinet and the fully inset TV is pre-determined according to the size of the TV. The TV power cable can be hidden through the pre-built cable pipe inside the desk.
A desk that can be used by two people at the same time, where you can work and communicate with your family on the sofa, and a semi-enclosed desk to hide the scattered desks when you are lazy. 6cm high white skirting gives the space a sense of magnification.
04
Balcony furniture
The botanical garden-themed photo wall is decorated with black and bronze frames and greenery, as well as sketches created by the designer and carefully selected plant specimens by Zhou in small walnut frames.
This is the single sofa that Sister Zhou has been longing for, a vibrant reading corner where she can make tea and read!
The sunny spot is perfect for a plant corner and a reading corner! The bookcase is just the right size with a depth of 45cm, so you can store your planting tools and books.
The side window is cleverly placed facing the staircase through the division of the movement line, which satisfies the light in the public space and compensates for the ventilation in the storage room.
05
Bathroom accessories
The raised floor allows for a sunken bath. The small compartment next to the toilet can be adjusted for paper towels or books, the in-wall toilet and mixer make it easier to clean, and the finished backlit vanity mirror has a simpler shape than an extra mirror front light.
A decorative painting with shady greenery placed directly on the countertop gives the bathroom a little more life.
The 1.6m built-in bathtub is surrounded by stone for a more sophisticated soak or shower, soak with some music and candles! A small sense of ritual makes people feel happy.
06
Bedroom furniture
The glass partition above the low backless bed increases the light and provides a shared space with the living room.
The bedroom space is set up with 3000K colour temperature recessed spotlights for the main lighting and a low bed without backrest. The ceiling height of the hollow inner part is 1.9m, with a twist in order to release more layers of height to give more comfort when walking around.
The 80cm height of the wall is set against the living room hollow at eye level, which allows you to see through the glass and windows of the luxury living room furniture, making the overall space very wide and comfortable.
The open view through the glass
A tea area for tea, meditation and storage
The room has been elevated to meet the convenience of laundry operation for upright and high frequency use, while forming a separate space, so that the two functions above and below can be used comfortably without affecting each other.
In order to make access to the storage room on the ground floor more convenient, a false cabinet was made in the corner, leaving the height inside the cabinet for the cloakroom access below.
Sunset in the evening! (This door is the door to the cloakroom underneath the bedroom wardrobe, so if there are a lot of items to take in and out, they can be passed directly through here)
The 14 m² storage room below the 2.2 m high bedroom is 1.5 m high and has a bench in it.
If you need to tidy up for a long time you can sit on the bench without getting tired, and there are windows under the stairs and in the laundry room for light and ventilation.
The storage room can hold about 300 pieces of clothes.
The 1.95m high laundry room below the tea area can be used by an adult walking upright and can be used regularly without any stress in operation.
From design to completion, from soft furnishings to move-in, we have seen a new home gradually take shape. It is the first step and the beginning of something that is filled with the desire for a better future. The touch is often ineffable.
