TWO OPEN AND CONNECTED AREAS | architecture

The Holidays are over, but I would like to go back for a while on the Christmas eve. This was the day when my project was published in a 'Delo in dom' magazine. This project is actually one of 25 different projects designed by architecture students from our university. It is some sort of competition where people send applications with their house/flat plans and a description of their wishes. The theme this year was attic apartments in a collaboration with Velux - roof windows and blinds company.

I was working on this project back in August and September. In October we had presentations to the customers and since then the projects have been published in the magazine - every week one project. You can also find my project on the Web page of the magazine HERE. They didn't published all the material I've sent them and the text is in Slovene, so I decided to make a blogpost about it.

My project in 'Delo in dom' magazine 24th of  December, 2014

A couple wants to create a new home in the second floor of the family house. They want to modernize the existing apartment and adapt it to their needs. As you can see in the plan of the existing apartment, the rooms are highly fragmented, rather small and unrelated. The couple wants a bigger and lighter space which will connect the living areas together.

Plan of the existing apartment in the 2nd floor

Concept and the idea: chest of drawers - "each drawer is one room"

Part of the second floor and the attic are currently unused, but the customers want to include them in the new design, which will give them more opened and bigger living area. The idea was to remove all the partition walls and the ceiling plate, to get one big open room. In the middle of it I would insert smaller wooden volume. The area around it become the living area and all other rooms are situated in the wooden volume and are connected to each other through the openings on the left and right. This openings have wooden panels which can be closed to create more privacy.

Wooden panels: 1)open 2)partly open and 3)closed rooms

1) 3rd floor - attic
2) 2nd floor

In the 2nd floor of the house there is the entrance area with big closet, stairs to the attic and sitting area below the stairs. Inside the wooden volume there is a bathroom, the kitchen and the dining room. Outside of the volume, on the south, there is the central living area where the space opens up to the ridge of the roof and connects the living room with the sleeping area at the attic. Between living room and the dining area there is a wooden two-storey element which is actually a closet, but with the pattern of full and empty, creates a special effect in the room. As the contrast to this element, the opposite wall is covered in stone. To make a living area more homey, there is a fireplace with two transparent sides, so the fire can be seen from the dining room as well.

At the attic there is a master bedroom on the south, a bathroom and a room, which can be used as an office, a children's room or they can adjust it for some other purposes. All the rooms at the attic have a natural light that passes through a series of skylights on the east and the west side of the roof.

New sections

View from the entrance

Dining room and living area behind the wooden closet.

Living room

I'm really sory if the text have some mistakes, but I will be more then happy if you find one (or more), just tell me and I will correct. I'm still learning so thank you for understanding :)

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