Dialogue of light and wind

A home is a place of habitation offering shelter from the elements, as well as a place to conserve and bolster one’s spirits. The form of a home ought to comply with the unique character of the inhabitants, a dignified space rich in variation. As such, the unlimited natural resources of wind and light inevitably provide the energetic key to successful design.

When renovating an outmoded residence, challenges pertaining to lighting and ventilation frequently arise. While offering near-perfect protection from the natural elements, the designs of many outdated houses employ excessive spatial division, obstructing both airflow and natural illumination, leading to stale, boxy rooms lacking in circulation.

When partitioning or opening up a space to allow heart-warming light to penetrate and gentle, skin-caressing wind to circulate unrestrained, every ingenious action must accord with environmental conditions in order to attain the perfect balance. This structure’s original glass bricks offer a pleasant surprise, providing gentle daytime lighting which bathes residents in a tender glow. Mundane objects, when placed upon the tabletop, naturally stand out as unique, everyday decorations.

It has been said that lighting transforms life into poetry.

It was the decision to utilise a square pathway around a central island which led to optimal design in the kitchen. For a couple with a young child, “play” becomes the heart of the household. In the kitchen, one plays the game of cooking while one’s growing child crawls about on the floor, familiarising himself with the game of life. The whole family gathers around the central dining space to partake of the playful family interaction around which life revolves. As such, the square pathway around the kitchen space becomes the existential core of family activity.

Bathed evenly in sunlight, all gloom is expelled from within the home, while a gentle breeze circulates throughout. As such, no matter if for a cordial family gathering, or within the intimacy of the private sleeping quarters, light and wind are one’s constant companions. This is a space where openness and privacy coexist in dynamic balance. The space transforms with the passing of time, as if possessed of life of its own. When the child grows up he will have his own private room. And when, later on, he leaves home to start his own family, his room may again undergo transformation into a tearoom or study. Ambiguity between open and concealed, public and private, allows for easy renewal, the impetus for a transmutational relationship with space wherein nothing is wasted.

The unique vitality of a space arises when the consciousness of the inhabitants is invited into the textures and details within. The exclusive mark of this space is its use of agile lines and lighting to express the owner’s tastes. Solid wood, slate, and meticulously textured, hand-crafted wall materials constitute the foundational elements of the structure, naturally exuding an organic warmth. In order to achieve a sense of expansiveness, raw wooden planking was used, while recycled black Diacrete was affixed to the sides of protruding roof beams. A glass wall consisting of stable black frames around rectangular panes transverses the entire space from kitchen to master bedroom, while wall lamps affixed to the Diacrete-covered roof beam running parallel to the glass wall impart a fun, modern feel. This dark-colored visual effect is ingeniously applied to grant height and breadth to the space.

Appropriate natural elements such as wind and light, wood and stone, are indispensable for the uncontrived style of this space. They provide the inhabitants with mental and spiritual nourishment, as well as physical support and protection, culminating in a true and genuine home.