Casa Calma Residential House by Chris Chen and Tc Kuo is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2022 A' Design Award in Interior Space and Exhibition Design Competition Category.
IronInterior· 2022
Casa Calma Residential House
Client: Paradox Studio
A' Design Award Winner in Interior Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #140333The Design
About Casa Calma Residential House
Casa Calma is a residential interior design for a three-generation family. The home covers 360 square metres on one floor, with two private elevators at the centre and windows on four sides. A double-height terrace faces the mountain view. A 2.8 metre tall rotating door divides the plan into two areas, so the bedrooms can be closed off from the living room when guests visit. During private family time the house can be circulated as a loop. Mineral coating and a bronze-toned ceiling line guide daily movement through the space.
The Recognition
About the A' Design Award
Casa Calma Residential House is an Iron A' Design Award winner, a prestigious recognition granted to good designs that meet the professional and industrial requirements expected from well-designed creations. Iron winners demonstrate great skill, high specialization, expert understanding, and creative capacity of their creators. Casa Calma Residential House is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished creation that is practical and innovative. This Iron A' Design Award-winning design integrates industry best practices and has competent technical characteristics linked with know-how and talent. Casa Calma Residential House is respected for its thoroughness and is designed to provide quality of life improvements that help make the world a better place.
Interviews
Grand Interview
Your innovative approach to the centered elevator core in Casa Calma Residential House creates a unique spatial division - could you elaborate on how this architectural decision enhances the multi-generational living experience?
The centered elevator core organizes the entire floor plan into a fluid circulation loop. Upon exiting the elevator, the layout naturally divides into two distinct wings.One wing is dedicated to the parents and their two children, where a study room serves as a transitional anchor to thread their private quarters into a cohesive family space. The opposite wing accommodates the grandparents, integrating the living and dining areas to naturally become the gathering hub for collective family interaction.This intentional configuration beautifully fosters a rich multi-generational living experience while ensuring spatial autonomy and absolute privacy for each generation.
The integration of smart home technology with earthy interior spaces in Casa Calma Residential House presents an intriguing contrast - what inspired your vision to balance these seemingly opposing elements?
The serene ambience of the earthy palette provides psychological tranquility, while smart home technology ensures a fluid and frictionless living experience. Rather than opposing each other, these two elements perfectly complement each other.This integration fosters a profound sense of inner peace that allows the owners to navigate their daily routines with a grounded mind, allowing their daily life and work to unfold with absolute harmony and creative clarity.
The 180-degree rotating door in Casa Calma Residential House serves as both a functional divider and an architectural statement - how did this distinctive feature evolve during your design process?
Due to the strategic layout of the centered elevator core, we wanted to immediately guide guests toward the reception and living areas the moment they arrive. To achieve this, we developed the 180-degree rotating door as an elegant screening mechanism. During guest visits, the door can be positioned to gently redirect the circulation, private family quarters from public view.Conversely, during the family's private, multi-generational daily routines, the door can be rotated fully open to maintain the seamless, loop-shaped living circulation. This feature successfully evolves from a functional boundary into a dynamic architectural statement that balances hospitality with domestic privacy.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- With the nature of centered elevator core, we draw a clear line to divide the interior area into two major uses with a 2.8m tall 180 degree rotating door. The bedroom area can keep completely separated from living room when guests visit. And with the private family time, the house can be circulated as a loop.
Also, an invisible linear axis was introduced with a dominated bronze titanium plating ceiling design, emphasized the primary direction of daily activity flow. - Dimensions & Packaging
- The floor footprint area of Casa Calma is W205m * L200m, total of 360 sqm, ceiling height is 3.7m hight with a 7.4 hight terrace surround living room.
Four side window with elevator core at the center, overlook mountain and city view. - Tags
- Residential, Wabisabi, Sky Garden, Casa Calma, Luxury House, Huaku, Tianmu, Taiwan
- Production Technology
- A great harmony of high-end smart home technology and earthy interior space is well played in Casa Calma. Italian Cebos mineral coating is used widely in lobby, foyer, living, dining area and Study. And with the well temperature/ humidity/audiovisual control system, we are hoping Casa Calma can subtly take care of the need with technology and also maintain the gentle and calm interior environment.
- Design Challenge
- The production period was during pandemic, we had to stop the construction several times or control the number of construction team in order to cooperate with government policy. The duration was extended to a year-long which was original an 8-month construction time project.
- Research
- The design research was based on tailor-making an independent and co-existing space for each member of the family, including two cats. With the center elevator core in the original layout, how to design a close yet distant spatial program has become the primary research at the design stage.
- Inspiration
- Casa Calma is a residence for 3-generation family. Located in Huaku Sky Garden, an Iconic high-rise Building in Tianmu Taipei. The unique building layout with two owner-exclusive elevators centered at a 360-sqm floor plan has allowed us to create a private and unique entryway to double-height terrace facing Mountain View, welcoming the owner with soothing atmosphere and open view.
- Project Duration
- The project started in Oct 2020 and finished in Oct 2021 in Taipei
- Operation Flow
- Dining area and family study are the two mediated spaces carefully planted to allow space to bond and breathe. In dining area, a 2.6m wide sliding door can flexibly be used a division to create private club space. The particular sliding door is also the door of exhibit wall cabinet, the corridor can be transformed into an exhibition hallway during the party event, as the owner is also an art collector.
Forest green cabinet with soft white mineral coating sliding door is s also the end view of the corridor, set a calm and refreshing tone when entering private bedroom territory. - Team Members
- Chris YJ Chen
TC Kuo - Image Credits
- Image #1: Photographer Andrew Kan.
Image #2: Photographer Future Vision Photography.
Image #3: Photographer Future Vision Photography.
Image #4: Photographer Future Vision Photography.
Image #5: Photographer Andrew Kan.
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