The project is located in a residential area by the Yangmeishan Road in Hangzhou. The hostess, who is a ceramic designer, and the host, an entrepreneur in game development, have a 4-year-old son. When the design team first met the hostess, she expressed her requirements for the home.
She mentioned that although it would be a new home without any historical records, she hoped there would be no strangeness when they moved in. Moving was not just about entering a new house but also about bringing the experiences and memories of the past 30 years to this new space. Thus, she expected many details of experiences and recollections in the new space so that it could continuously load new memories.
This vision aligned perfectly with the design team's concept and deeply impressed them. They all aimed to create a warm home in the busy city, a place that could carry stories. They desired each designed space to be not only functional but also warm and interactive.
The team divided the flat into two parts: the lively public part and the quiet private part. All private spaces are accessed through peculiar arch doors, which also give a hint to the guests that the areas inside the doors are the private spaces of the hosts.
The public space is the core space for the family and visitors and the focus of the design. In the 6-meter-high space, the original stairs layout was changed, and a veranda was used to connect the two floors. It starts from the doorway on the first floor, passes by the large window and a display wall, and then leads to the public area on the second floor. Finally, it reaches a small cantilevered box. The veranda runs through the entire public area.
The large window at the second-floor height, which was previously unreachable and created a sense of distance, now allows people to get close with the help of the veranda. People can enjoy a panoramic view of the beautiful mountains and tea gardens outside. Kids can have fun in the sun, play or chase around on the veranda. The design team overhung the window sill a bit to make it a platform for kids to play or for adults to lean on.
The display wall on the side of the veranda tells the visitors the stories of the hosts by showing the small ornaments that carry the memories.
The space under the stairs was carefully designed based on its dimensions. It was transformed into a viewing area where people can watch movies, lean and read, instead of the traditional sofa mode. Next to this area is a small desktop where the hostess can work freely at any time.
The kitchen and dining area is an important place for dinner and communication and spends more time than the living room. After communicating with the hostess, the original study room was changed to a western-style kitchen. The western-style kitchen has strong spatial interactivity. With the open setting, the hostess can stay together with guests or other family members in the kitchen. Due to the smoke from Chinese cooking, the original kitchenette was still retained as a Chinese kitchen. As the kitchen generates a lot of waste and litter, the design makes the most of the spare space around for temporary storage to help the hostess organize it properly.
The 4-year-old son is an essential role in the family. When designing the children's space, the team avoided overly childish figurative decorations because the kid may not need such elements as he grows up. They aimed to satisfy the kid’s psychological need of exploration while making the style coordinate with that of other parts of the home.
Following the veranda to the second floor is the son’s entertainment area. By using the big floor-to-floor height, an area of 2.5th-floor on kids’ scale was created. This is the son’s secret base. Such a small, private and undisturbed space is essential for his childhood. The space at the little staircase was effectively made into a reading wall to display children’s books spread out, attracting the kid to read. The son can read while sitting on the stairs or hiding in his own secret base.
There is a yellow revolution door in the wall of the second floor, and behind it is the hostess's studio. When designing the home, the hostess told the team that she hoped to see her son while working. So, this semi-open yellow door came into being. It satisfies the privacy of both the mother and the child and selectively serves for their communication. The mother can observe the son’s status, and the little boy won't feel lonely when playing in the children’s space as he can see his mother and feel safe.
The hostess's studio is next to the son’s bedroom. The mother suggested a "puppy hole" on the door of his room, allowing the kid to climb in and out. The small door was set at a medium height for the kid at this age to walk through normally. But when his height changes, he will have to arch in lowly, as if the small door is silently reminding him of his growth.
There is a roof garden on the third floor, where people can play, have barbecues and get in touch with nature. Its original design was dry landscape, but kids can transform it into an enjoyable playground with a little sand pond, creating unforgettable memories.
三楼设有屋顶花园，人们可以在此玩耍、烧烤、亲近大自然。其原本的设计是枯山水，但孩子们可以将其改造成一个带有小沙池的欢乐游乐场，创造难忘的回忆。
△三维图
编排：MUFU
