H residence
A couple with a quiet cat are the key points of the peaceful H. residence. The Husband and wife are used to staying abroad for long periods of time. In their daily life, they appreciate everything related to reading and art contemplation. The driving concept of the H. Residence is to capture the peaceful reading atmosphere of a library. The basic principle for this place is to “keep it open”. With plywood and black boxes, we can define the living room, the studio, the dining room and the entrance. The bookshelf wall displays a large opening in its center that gives the place a soothing sense of depth. Daylight can flood that space through the large opening. It also gives the dining room, that is in garish blue, an added sense of depth and makes it an ideal place for gathering and wine tasting with friends. The white and gray with different textured backgrounds present classic furniture that is the main point of interest of the H. residence.
The owners of the H. residence are used to staying abroad for long periods of time. They have traveled around the world, either for work or for leisure. Husband and wife both have studied art and literature thoroughly, so they have gathered together impressive collections in those areas. In their daily life, they appreciate everything related to reading and art contemplation. Besides that, they also have a quiet cat who enjoys the quiet mood of the place. Their main goal with their new home’s interior design was that it could contain countless books as well as the collection of beautiful objects of decoration that they have acquired along the years. They also wanted to be able to put paintings on display wherever possible, but most of all in the hallway. The driving concept of the H. Residence is to capture the peaceful reading atmosphere of a library.
Besides art and books, the owners’ other interest is wine tasting. They like to invite friends and relatives on a regular basis to share with them their passion for good wines. This is why they put in extra effort and attention to the dining room. They wanted to have a space where they could entertain their guests in a relaxing environment, complemented with a bar and a mini-wine cellar with glass doors to display their bottle collection for everyone to see. Another key point of the residence is the master bedroom, the idea being that they could enjoy a much-needed relaxing area to rest after a busy day, or where they could also read before sleeping. The bedroom is also supplemented with a walk-in wardrobe to organized their clothes in a clear and functional manner.
Before renovating the place, the separation between living room and dining room was quasi-nonexistent as it wasn’t clear where one ended and the other started. To address this issue, we used a box system, either in black or in plywood, to determine the space for the different areas. And on the living room side, we used the inside of the box as a giant bookshelf. That giant bookshelf wall is ideal for displaying objects or keeping books at the ready. It separates the living room and the dining room also displays a large opening in its center which introduce the dinning space and gives the place a soothing sense of depth.
Since there was no physical separation between the dining room and the entrance, it felt like this space was kind of diminished with a feeling of boredom and lack of usefulness. But with the black box now in place, we could not only separate the two areas but also give them multiple purposes. The box on the entrance side also creates a space that is askew in regard to the living room, therefore creating the feeling of even more living surface. The box in the entrance can also be used as a small shelf and/or a kind of stool where one can sit to put their shoes on. Another upside is that the entrance seems wider than it actually is, and it can benefit from daylight coming from the adjacent room. On the other side of that box, in the dining room, offers a mini-bar with a small wine cellar and a nice extra space for a coffee machine. It is also possible to put some cooking books there that will inspire guests during the next party. The rectangle dining table is at the center of this room. Daylight can flood that space through the large opening on the bookshelf wall. The back wall of the dining room is in a greyish-blue color. It gives the room an added sense of depth combined with a truly stylish feeling.
The box system was used once more in the master bedroom, this time to create an entrance and a walk-in wardrobe. The grey tone on the walls expands from the bathroom to the bedroom door. The use of a single color gives these spaces a sense of unity that identifies both the wardrobe and the bedroom as being part of the same area.
The basic principle for using the same material in many places is one of simplicity. Except for the dark grey box and the plywood bookshelf, everything else is white. This allows to present the classic furniture as well as the impressive book collection as the main point of interest of the residence. There are also some small white shelves on the white wall in the living room; this here allows the plywood bookshelf wall to be the key element of that space.
