Preserving the Outside, Reimagining Life Within.

Designed for a family of four, the project reimagines an existing residence into a contemporary home centered on everyday living. With the original building already providing sufficient spatial capacity, the design takes a deliberate approach to preservation, retaining its existing façade while focusing architectural interventions on enhancing the interior experience. Rather than transforming the house through extensive exterior alterations, the project explores how spatial reorganization, materiality, and a closer relationship with nature can redefine the quality of domestic life.

01. Reinterpreting the Existing

The design maximizes the potential of the existing structure by prioritizing essential domestic spaces, including the foyer, living, dining, pantry, and bedrooms. Supporting functions and utilities are consolidated into a modest two-storey side extension, allowing the main residence to remain dedicated to family life. Concealed service access maintains visual continuity, while refined material treatments introduce a contemporary architectural expression without compromising the original character of the house.

02. Spatial Intimacy

The house redefines the relationship between public and private living. The outdoor seating area overlooking a fish tank accommodates visitors, allowing the interior to become an intimate environment for the family. As its heart, the living and dining areas form a continuous communal space, achieved through a reconfigured structural span of approximately nine meters.

Rather than allowing openness to feel boundless, the interior is carefully framed through material contrast. Light surfaces enhance spatial continuity, while darker materials define functional elements and transitional boundaries, including the pantry, foyer partition, and bedroom thresholds. This interplay creates a measured openness, balancing spatial generosity with intimacy.

03. Living Inward, Opening to Nature

The house shifts its orientation inward, placing the inner court at the center of its relationship with nature. Living spaces and bedrooms maintain visual connections to greenery, whether through the inner court or rear garden. Carefully positioned openings introduce natural daylight and encourage cross ventilation throughout the home. This inward-looking arrangement allows the house to remain open to its natural surroundings while preserving the privacy and intimacy of everyday family life.

CB House explores how domestic life can be transformed without extensive alterations to an existing building. Preserving the original façade, the project reimagines the interior through thoughtful spatial reorganization, refined materiality, and a careful balance between openness and privacy.

Communal spaces encourage family interaction, while carefully defined boundaries maintain intimacy. Rather than changing the house’s exterior appearance, the project focuses on enhancing everyday experiences, demonstrating how architecture can renew a home through its interior while respecting its existing character.