Wen Hsueh Wu Receives the Bronze A' Design Award for Interpretation of Dream Residential in Interior Space and Exhibition Design

The Work

Project

Interpretation of Dream Residential

Function

Residential

Category

Interior Space and Exhibition Design

Discipline

Spatial Design

Industry

Architecture and Packaging & Retail

Colors

Rosy Brown, Silver, Gray, Dark Gray and Light Gray

Images

5

The Recognition

Laureate

Wen Hsueh Wu

Country

Taiwan (China)

Brand

Vvu arterior Co., Ltd.

Recognition

Bronze A' Design Award

Edition

2019 - 2020

Design ID

#89140

Credits

Team

Wen- Hsueh Wu, Yachen Wu and Shih-I Huang

Image Credits

Photographer Frankie Fang

Design Details

Unique Properties

To meet the owner’s desire of Western and oriental culture, the project features traditional elements by furnitures, accessories that complement from fabrics, sculptural lights to modern artwork and objects. Passing the corridor lead us to the bedrooms, there is an artwork from Marc Quinn as a visual impact on the way to bedrooms. He depicted orchid by low saturated outlines with high density of colors scattering and dropping as the flow. Along with the concept of mixed culture, the wallpaper is made of silk with reflective metallic yarn in master bedroom.

Inspiration

The inspiration is originated by a piece of Hermes fabric designed by Nigel Peake, the architect and illustrator, as a perfect backdrop for dining area. It was said that as he wandered in Hermes flagship store, the imagination of a labyrinth-like space while there’s a groom in carriage searching for horses. Nigel visualized the architectural materials to a higher textured and detailed mapping with jacquard and embroidered weaves. This eye-catching screen upholstery helps visitors to overlook it as a functional sliding door for storing. This accomplished the owner’s desire for Western stylish accent with a touch of Zen art.

Research

Material selection, such as wall covering, curtain’s fabrics and rug, relies on designer’s experience and imagination as effects are varied since materials complements reflect and correspond with others under interior and natural light. Generally, small material samples cannot fully represent its properties and effect while it is applied on a certain scale, such as fabric draping, color shades are the factors that need to take into account. For example, the silk wall covering in master bedroom was difficult to be decided from the same collection because of the unpredictable differences under light. It also makes the seam more visible because of a certain thickness of yarn combination.

Challenge

As the project was originally constructed by ex-designer, the client was worried about 90% of cost may not be claimed back because of cancellation of contract. The client spent quite an amount for the apartment, and cost double budget to re-design and extend the construction duration. The difficulties are how to earn trust of our design team, to modify the existing work to meet the budget, to remain the original function and finished parts between different workers without interfering others’ works.

Realization and Technology

The construction is made by plywood and layers of paints mostly for its matte and firm effect, which takes longer time to finishing. Heavy slate was applied on the TV wall, an artificial stone was chosen for kitchen countertop because of its durable, abrasion resistance and clean-easy properties. The main wall in master bedroom has selected a decorative material made of silk with reflective metallic yarn, presenting the horizontal calligraphy-like lines and a marble veining pattern for the core concept of Zen art touch.

Operation and Interaction

There are three members in the residence, the husband, wife and their only child. They stays in the dining area mostly, where the interactions happen while they’re having snack and watching TV. The owner often shows great hospitality by inviting friends over watching sports for weekends, or wine tasting on the walnut table in the open space since the areas are sectioned by furniture layouts instead of walls. One of a storage room is hidden behind the sliding door of dining table, which can be utilized for storing owner’s heavy motorcycle jacket, helmet or other protective equipments.

Project Duration and Location

The project is located in a new apartment in Taiwan. Due to the client’s unsatisfied with the design by ex-designer, the whole project has been on an on-going stage when we taking over. Hence, it takes quite some time for discussion about re-designing, arranging and integrating the existing work within budget. Though part of the construction has been finished, it causes more difficulties, time and cost, the project has been done in 6 months after taking over from the ex-designer.

Specifications

The scale of this residence is around 165㎡. The configuration is set as squared or rectangular for each area due to maximization and efficient utilization, also because of fengshui’s important reputation in Chinese culture. The gigantic sliding upholstery was limited by the width of the fabric, however, by cropping the full pattern into three parts based on visual balance of every division consideration, makes them a completed mapping as its original design.

Keywords

Residential, Interior Design, Decoration, Marc Quinn, Kelly Wearstler , Hermes, Nigel Peake