The aim of this project was to create a family home specifically aimed at the rental market. An open plan arrangement dominates the majority of the ground floor providing a series of spaces with a visual and auditory connection. The newly extended area in the garden allows an opportunity for relaxation slightly separated from the main internal space. The arrangement of rooms upstairs reflects a more segregated approach, providing each family member with their own personal space to retreat to. The individual rooms were purposefully left as blank canvasses for the prospective tenants to personalise.
The ground floor was completely reconfigured in order to expand the living spaces, by directing the flow along the main trajectory only and removing the dividing wall so that the boundary between the distinct areas was blurred, thereby giving an enlarged impression of the space. The external platform projects the internal floor level outside to create another alternative living space, weather permitting.
To maintain the fluidity of the spatial sequence on the ground floor, a consistency of colour and texture was desirable; timber was used internally and a homogeneous tile was used for the external raised platform.
On the upper floors this is contrasted with a softer treatment for the circulation areas and bedrooms, but a visual continuity through similar neutral colouring remains.
Lighting was incorporated to accentuate the newly configured areas of the ground floor. The furthest extremities of this projected space were further enhanced by the use of directional lights focusing on different features in turn. The low level floor lights project a clear beam from the perimeter of the external raised platform so that it appears to float. Concealed lighting within the kitchen illuminates the seamless stone surface below with a soft glow.
The former threshold on the ground floor was maintained to provide some degree of separation for the kitchen from the living area. It structured the space by providing the geometry for the breakfast bar; the visible built structure could be kept to a minimum, thereby maintaining this open sense of space.
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