When I read the brief for Project 4, my inner thought was, how can I make functional partitioning more flexible in a limited space? With this question in mind, I approached an internet sensation named Handmade Geng, who I found was desperate to create a new home and redesign his studio in a limited space, and his needs matched perfectly with my design philosophy.
In the design, I focused on the mobility of the space as a design priority. As the original building on the site was in a rectangular passage with a communal wooded area on one side and a commercial and residential area on the other, in order to extend the space I decided to convert the building shell into a sliding shell with a glass room inside, with the studio set in the glass room that slides outwards. In normal times, clients can carry out their daily activities in the wooden shell area, while when crafts need to be made, clients can pull the glasshouse and work in it, or relax and play with family and friends in it.
This project was inspired by the work of ANNA, who designed a sliding flower room that allows people to expand their functional space within a limited space, and the look of a relaxing dream garden. My design concept was to create a peaceful corner of the client’s mind in the city.
As the client is still a young person, I wanted to add vibrancy to the colour palette of the interior space. For the colour palette I took reference from the designer’s building block palette, who specialises in creating strong visual impressions with different colours.
For the design of the building shell, I reused scrap iron material from the client’s old studio and straw from around the building, punched out the pattern using 3D technology and co-produced an environmentally friendly wooden shell.
I think it is very important to have a green element in the interior, plants not only add to the ornamental feel but also freshen up the air and make people feel more at home. I therefore buried the glasshouse slides in the grass and laid artificial turf in the glasshouse area to extend the outdoor landscape into the interior, where clients can enjoy sunbathing on the lawn at any time without having to worry about contaminating the floor with waste from craft making.
In this design, I learnt how to use colour in a space to make it look more lively and interactive. It broke down my old ideas about space design and gave me more new ideas. Learning about the structure of the church in the corridor design also gave me more architectural knowledge.