Project Overview
The client is a Buddhist who does not like to decorate but wants to have a space for chanting and interacting with family. The original layout was narrow, and the walkways were not smooth, so the client wanted new planning for children to play and run around freely. To achieve the client’s expectation, the designer takes a wabi-sabi style as the theme, using natural walnut color and architectural concrete walls with light and shadow techniques to create a tranquil and relaxed atmosphere. Moreover, a collection and display wall is set to the side of the study.
Project Commissioner
Seattle Interior Design Studio
Project Creator
Seattle Interior Design Studio
Team
Yu-Cheng Liao
Project Brief
This project uses Japanese wabi-sabi aesthetics as the core. From the roughly patterned ceramic teacups at the entrance vista, the smooth jade-like imitation Song dynasty celadon, the mind-cleansing incense cups, to the lightly smoky backflow incense, the beauty of wabi-sabi is displayed. The designer creates a silent atmosphere with lines, materials, and colors. The straight and transparent moru glass and adjustable louvers reveal a hazy elegance in the light. The stone pattern and the architectural concrete are natural and original, and the dark colors and light walnut tones create calmness in the space. The beauty of wabi-sabi implies imperfection, irregularity, roughness, obscurity, minimalism, and fickleness. The space is free of extra elements and distracting decorations, echoing the client's attitude towards life and the Buddhist path. Here one can feel nature, realize the passing time and impermanence of life, and not be disturbed by gains and losses.
Project Innovation/Need
This project has an area of 69.4 square meters, with three bedrooms, a living room, and a dining room. The space limitation and rigid and closed layout affect the flexibility and usage of space. For example, the beams above the sofa give people a sense of pressure, and the lack of depth in the living room causes a sense of constraint. The designer cleverly aligned the sofa with the TV wall and moved the TV wall back to increase the depth of the living room, making the living room spacious and bright. The study room, which is separated from the living room by a wall, has a smooth and rectangular - ambulatory plane that allows the children to run freely between the living room and study room. In addition, the dark walnut color of the living room is continued, and the wall of the study room is decorated with incense and other Buddhist items to create a resting place for the client to meditate and chant.
Design Challenge
The challenges of this project are the lack of depth in the living room and the low ceiling, which caused a strong sense of oppression. To solve these two problems, the designer switched the position of the sofa and the TV wall by relocating the TV wall to the study. In his way, the depth of the living room is increased to 320cm. In addition, the original air conditioning ducts on the beam above the TV wall are moved to the window. Since the original ceiling was relatively low, the designer make use of light and colors to change the visual perception to raise the height of the ceiling.
Sustainability
The designer uses natural light and layout planning to transform the originally dark and small space into a spacious, bright, and well-ventilated residence. The space extending from the living room to the study brings in plenty of natural light to achieve the goal of energy saving. The foyer uses moru glass as a barrier to protect privacy and creates an atmosphere through subtle light. In terms of building materials, waterproof, fireproof, and anti-pollution materials were chosen, including the U.S. imported eco-friendly paint and SPC waterproof, super wear-resistant, and low formaldehyde wood panels. The designer eliminates extra decorations and makes good use of storage cabinets. From the shoe cabinet in the foyer, and the one-piece bookcase, to the separate dressing room next to the master bedroom, all of them are the manifestation of storage function.
Tags
Interior Design - International Residential - Compact
This award celebrates innovative and creative building interiors with consideration given to space creation and planning, furnishings, finishes and aesthetic presentation. Consideration also given to space allocation, traffic flow, building services, lighting, fixtures, flooring, colours, furnishings and surface finishes.
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