SDA 2022 Entries

• Housing - Buildings such as houses, flats and apartments that are used for sheltering people. These could be either part of the private or public sector and could be individual dwellings or multi-dwelling developments. Social rented, affordable rented and intermediate housing provided to specified eligible households whose needs are not met by the market, are included. 
• Light + Surface - The innovative use of light and the way it is inextricably linked to surfaces, whether it’s the effect the light has on the surrounding surfaces or the materials used to create the light.  

Completion Date: 24.04.21
Floor area: 29 msq / 312 sqft
Project Cost: 78k ex vat (cost Confidential - please do not publish)

A study in materiality, transparency and enclosure, this apartment renovation project is conceived as a prototype for micro living in existing housing stock characterised by constrained floor areas with traditionally generous ceiling heights. Poky and uncomfortable cellular rooms are replaced by a generous multi functional living space arranged around a translucent sleeping ‘pod’ inspired by traditional Japanese Shoji screens. By cleverly stacking accommodation in a single height volume, additional floor area is conjured to provide a real sense of luxury and design quality in just 29 square metres.
The client approached us with a desire to transform a cramped first floor one bedroom flat into an open plan arrangement filled with light and charactered by both serenity and a relaxed sense of material warmth. Often overlooked in single room accommodation, maximising useful storage was also a key part of the client brief.

We were immediately taken with the underexploited 3.4 metre ceiling heights in the property and developed a strategy for stacking accommodation vertically in order to maximise the generosity of the plan. Internal non-load bearing partitions were removed to allow a complete reconfiguration of the apartment. The existing arrangement placed the bedroom on the street with an under-exploited beautiful period bay window, and relegated undersized living and kitchen spaces to the darker parts of the plan.

We turned this on its head positioning a double king size bedroom in the darkest corner of the plan, raised on a plinth accessed via a space saving plywood staircase, and arranged above a newly created walk-in wardrobe. The volume is wrapped in a translucent screen that can open and close to create privacy whilst sharing intimate framed views to the living areas and beyond to trees on the street.

The resulting furniture object is inspired by Japanese Shoji screen architecture and creates a ‘sleeping cocoon’ that animates the living space through different configurations, playfully exploring transparency, enclosure, and illumination whilst also providing an intimate and sensual retreat within.

By exploiting the vertical dimensions of the existing condition, space is somewhat conjured out of nothing. The innovative sleeping pod creates an architectural insertion into the existing volume that creates delight through new vantage points and a sense of sanctuary, whilst solving issues of limited functional space and inadequate storage.

A walk-in shower room, seamlessly finished in micro cement to floor, walls and ceiling, is re-fitted in an awkward corner of the plan, and a structural ceiling built above it to provide new loft storage for the property and hub for all services.

A kitchen is carefully planned with fully integrated appliances (including bins, fridge freezer, dishwasher, and washer-drying machines), and finished in natural birch plywood fronts. Generous storage is also provided with wall to wall above counter joinery.

Acoustic insulation and boarding are added to floor and ceiling, and windows upgraded to double glazed, to better insulate the apartment from the noise and cold. This also allowed ceiling recessed lighting coves to be integrated to conceal blinds and indirect lighting sources in order to calm the space and provide flexibility in use. A feature pendant and cabling travels up walls and across the ceiling to further animate the space, arriving at the heart of the dining area.

Walls and ceiling are finished in soft clay plaster to create a unifying sense of subtle warmth to the space. Natural birch plywood was selected for kitchen and joinery elements, panelled from floor to ceiling to accentuate the height of the space. Both provide balance to the more clinical industrial finishes of the polycarbonate screens with polyester powder coated aluminium framing that structures the sleeping pod. A linoleum acoustic floor is practical for spills, soft underfoot and ties into the natural palette of finishes.

Shoji Apartment forms part of our studio’s ongoing interest in micro-living. As a practice we explore the ephermeral qualities that materials, light and form bring to a space.

The translucent and dynamic qualities of the pod’s polycarbonate surfaces maximise its benefits to the apartment. Open or closed, illuminated or opaque, its surface and volume are brought to life in use, acting at once as a lantern to the wider room, or a mezzanine with intimate views to the street. The material is lightweight and robust meaning limited structure intervention was required to support the architectural insertion.

Natural birch plywood was selected for kitchen and joinery elements due to its robustness and natural grain, and is panelled from floor to ceiling to accentuate the height of the apace. Walls and ceiling are finished in soft clay plaster to create a unifying sense of subtle warmth in the room. Both provide a natural patina to the space, and are balanced against the more clinical industrial finishes of polycarbonate screening and a polyester powder coated aluminium frame that structures the sleeping pod.

Translucent roller blinds housed within formed ceiling recesses provide a second layer of visual privacy to the street, and temper harsh oblique sunlight when required with a soft wash of light.

The walk-in shower room, seamlessly finished in a light natural tone microcement complements the serenity and simplicity of the main living spaces, whilst providing a robust and easily maintainable waterproof finish to the whole room.

This project explores the create reuse of existing buildings to provide housing for an emerging market of upwardly mobile one and two person householders. Building ‘in a compact innovative way can increase affordability, reduce material resource use (and waste) and promote innovation in design, from the space created through to fixtures and fittings.

By designing ‘compact’, a greater attention is also placed on material qualities and surface design to bring delight back into the space. In this project natural but readily available cost effective finishes are prioritised. Birch plywood with a clear matt white oil finish provides natural warmth to the space as well as offering practical robustness. A linoleum acoustic floor has a low carbon footprint, is practical for spills, soft underfoot and ties into the natural palette of finishes. Natural self finishing clay plaster is applied to walls and ceiling, eliminating the need for conventional plaster and paint. Polycarbonate screens provide privacy where needed whilst maximising natural light throughout the space and creating interesting opportunities for artificial lighting effects. For instance, the polycarbonate sleeping pod doubles as both an object that animates the living space by day, and a ‘lantern’ that softly illuminates the room by night.

Off the shelf modular kitchen carcasses are employed for economy but upgraded with custom fronts bring a customised character to the space. Acoustic insulation and boarding are added to floor and ceiling, and windows upgraded to double glazed, to better insulate the apartment from the noise and cold and provide enhanced occupier comfort.

Low impact materials come together to deliver a highly functional single unit dwelling, delivering architectural impact, calming interior space and highly practical accommodation with abundant storage and high quality amenities.

Due to the size and nature of the project a C02/m2 is not applicable/appropriate.

Achieving a full apartment strip out and refit with a high quality design outcome within an achievable budget was a challenge that was successfully overcome through hard work and careful design. Various technical challenges were overcome, from meeting surface spread of flame fire requirements for exposed timber surfaces with a clear matt fire retardant application, to coordinating off the shelf kitchen carcasses with flush faced bespoke custom fronts cut from readily available industrial sheets and routed with integrated handles and concealed ironmongery. Detailing elegant framing and coordinated structure for the polycarbonate screening, with its various sliding and pivoting elements, required ingenuity and rigour.

This project shows that design quality need not be compromised when addressing the issues of limited space and poorly performing existing fabric, and that careful material design can bring delight to the smallest spaces. Period property are often massively underexploited when converted to smaller unit accommodation, showing little or no imagination in how constraints might be turned into opportunities.The project is an exemplar for compact living, and highlights that quality is more important than size, and innovative design beats generic rules based solutions every time.