Something that feels like Home; yet it is Something more than a Home…

The Home is an extension of our Being; it is a reflection of our Existential Self – so much so that when one walks into a person’s Home, one can immediately sense the character of the Owner.  Is he/she a Dreamer? Is he/she a perfectionist? Does he/she have a Good Heart? All this and more can be extracted from the Space of the person who owns it. That’s why it is so important to get the design right, to get the feel of the house right, to make sure it reflects one’s TRUE self………

The upwardly mobile couple who came to us did not give us any specific brief about the character of the House.  They simply wanted a nice home in this very peaceful and respectable neighborhood so they can raise their young family in – that’s all.  Their easy-going nature made them such fantastic and wonderful clients – so that’s why we had to give them something more!

As the site lacked physical depth (for this kind of housing type), the first order of the day was to visually ‘lengthen the house’ in the mind’s eye.  This we did so by a technique known as ‘spatial layering’ where space is made longer/ larger (and therefore more mysterious) by designing the space to be visually perceived as being made up of multiple layers.  Porous metal screens, stripped down staircases, furniture and fixtures all became visual devices to create this multi-layered space.

As a result of this, the humble staircase which is an everyday architectural element required for vertical transport, became an object of sculptural and visual delight.  Every angle and every turn of this marvelous piece of construction was celebrated and detailed to the greatest visual effect and stimulation.  If there ever was a need to have a conversation piece during party nights, the staircase would most definitely be the one.

To top it all off, we had designed a cool and inviting light and air well that punctured through the centre of the house – this became the family courtyard that delivered glorious illumination and natural ventilation right to the centre of the edifice.  For with this design element, the house was lifted out of the ‘cookie cutter’ category and into the domain of a ‘designer home’!

By the use of clever architectural concepts and ideas, we had hoped to provide our clients an inviting Home, a sculptural talking point and something of a character that can’t be found elsewhere.  Our clients thought they had found a Home, we hope we had given them something more than that………