A single, compact cube of joinery, 8ft 3 x 11ft 2 (2.5m x 3.4m). Prefabricate-able; mass produce-able; in any number of finishes... and when you don't need it in the space anymore: disassemble it and install it somewhere else.
Proposal aims:
Specifically tailored to Graham's needs and the apartment.
Replicable in an apartment.
CUBE:
The kitchen, bathroom, main sleeping space, office, bikes, wardrobes, general and lockable storage, recycling centre, automatically irrigated planting, and services are all contained within the 3.2m x 2.4m x 2.2m(h) cube of joinery. Various doors, panels and units open up or pull out to access the facilities tucked neatly under over and between each other.
FURNITURE:
A Resource Furniture Goliath Table (also stowed in the cube) and a Ludus Mobilia modular sofa system accommodate the lounging, dining and guest facilities in the generous 28sqm remaining space.
LIGHT & MEDIA RAILS:
Adjustable lights, digital picture frames and the the 31" Mac screen run on rails running the length of the side walls. These rails also carry the power. The 31" Mac screen (shown in the renders as black) slides along and up-and-down the south west wall allowing it to be used from the living, office or sleeping spaces. The surface mounting of these services means ease of upgrading and less cabling buried in plaster and destined for landfill - Closed loop design.
ENVIRONMENTAL:
- A design intended to allow two people to comfortably live without treading on each others toes (this further reduces the space per person),
- Super insulated on all walls, finished in brick slips on the two side walls,
- Insulated shutters on the windows keep in heat at night and allow the space to be blacked out completely,
- The position of the cube also allows good for cross ventilation,
- Good natural lighting to main task spaces to reduce need for electric lights,
- All lighting space and task is LED,
- Re-locatable design to enable re-use,
- Minimisation of buried service and composite materials to make the design more "Closed Loop"/"Cradle to Cradle",
- Boidegradable materials used where possible (paints, fabrics, natural oiled floor, etc), high grade and industrially recyclable materials used where biodegredation is not an option,
- Innovative 'timber' boards such as "Kirei" or Bamboo could be used for the joinery,
- Reclaimed materials or products used at client's discretion,
- Re-use centre easily accessible from kitchen and main space and segregated to match NY waste collection categories.
- Grey water capture, treatment, storage and use (for watering plants, flushing the toilet and cleaning),
- Plants to improve air quality,
- A generous kitchen IN the main space so you can socialise while you cook, to promote cooking and home and using fresh produce,
STORAGE:
Excluding any space used on counter tops or the top of the cube, the cube contains 265 cubic feet of storage (7.5 cubic m).
In addition the back units to the Ludus Mobilia sofa (which are open as shown in the images) could be replaced with doored units, bringing the total to 285 cubic feet (8 cubic m).
Because of the design of the cube additional units could be added if even more space is required.
SPACES CREATED:
The cube and it's position create:
- A large, clear-able space for the space intensive functions (like dining and lounging),
- A more secluded, secondary space (for changing and working),
- A permanent raised bed space (for sleeping or relaxing, that doesn't need to be re-made every night),
- An entrance space (creating a place to take off coats and shoes, and slow down, before entering the main space).
BEYOND THE BRIEF:
- DINING FOR 16: The "Goliath" table + desk provides luxurious dining space for 12 and, at a squeeze, dining space for 16.
- LOUNGING FOR 16: "Ludus Mobilia" sofas + "Setu" chairs can provide seating with backs for 8 people or soft seating without backs for 10. If you sit on the bed too, thats another 3-6.
- GENEROUS KITCHEN: 7' 10" (2.4m) of kitchen counter - with the stove off and the sink cutting-board insert in - and to need to stop socialising while you cook.
- HUGE DESK: Desk + pullout office storage = A 6' 5" (1.65m) worktop, usable anywhere in the room.
OTHER OPTIONS:
LOFT/STOWING BED: It has been mentioned that Graham has reservation about loft beds (which were not apparent to us at the beginning of the design process).
Firstly, there is a generous 4 feet of headroom over our "loft bed", so it is more than just a squeezed in sleeping shelf - you can kneel upright, move about, perform the Kama Sutra, etc. We felt the benefits of not having to make the bed every day, the bed not having to take up "downstairs" floorspace, and not blocking off another function (like the desk) when the bed is in use, outweighed the possible access issue. Graham also commented that he had concerns over designs that had too much storage on display forcing people to be tidier that they wanted to be... our bed is hidden from most of the apartment and if you want to leave it messy... feel free.
All that said, we could move the bed to where the the desk/wardrobes are and have it fold down. I have already done some sketches of this, they are just not online. In this version the top of the cube would become storage and the desk would be revealed when the bed stowed. ie: http://www.resourcefurniture.com/space-savers/queen-space-saving-beds/ulisse-desk
