Type Street Apartment is a renovation project, converting and revitalizing an 1970s 35m2 1 bedroom apartment.
The design is in support of the tiny house movement. The design questions the modern-day lifestyle of living in excess and the modern throw-away culture and hyper consumerism.
EXISTING CONTEXT
The existing site is a 1-bedroom apartment, one of 12 units in a 1970s walk up apartment. With conventional 2.4m high ceiling, no working kitchen, an awkward layout, with bathroom the only space with north facing window, and no outdoor space.
DESIGN OBJECTIVE
The design objective was to bring life back to neglected housing stock. Working within the constraints of existing layout of structure and services to create a flexible generous living / office needs of the architect occupier.
DESIGN SOLUTION
The design solution was a direct response to the limitation of the apartment. Introducing an internal window between bathroom and kitchen, providing the kitchen with much needed borrowed northern light from the bathroom, a switchable privacy film is applied to the window, the glass becomes frosted to provide privacy to the bathroom at the press of a button.
To introduce a sense of the outdoor space, the bathroom palette is carefully considered to create a feeling of an indoor/outdoor space, like a greenhouse. A feature moss wall covers the main wall, overlay with various pot plants to form a feature green wall, this is position in direct eye sight as you first enter the apartment, to be immediately greeted with nature and green.
To create a feeling of generous and luxury, the strategy is to allocate generous proportions to the functions, a 4m kitchen is inserted into the apartment, this is the main feature to the apartment.
Layering and overlapping are the key to planning for small spaces, two different function can co-existing in the same space at different times. It then comes down to detailing of the flexible joinery to make it an effortless transition between the 2 functions, such as the slide out dining table.
MATERIAL PALETTE
A simple material palette is used, to bring a sense of easiness and calm, so it doesn’t overwhelm the senses. The main material statement is the timber, as all the timber finishes are coordinated to give a sense of continuity; from the timber flooring, to the timber veneer joinery and wall panels, to the ceiling, together gives the architecture language of a timber box inserted into the apartment space.
The rest of the apartment has a simple white backdrop, with white paint to wall, ceiling, colour matched to the cabinets.
A subtle silvery blue woven vinyl flooring give a contemporary reference to the traditional tatami straw flooring and brings a softness to the space.
