Te Chih Lo · CLIENT: Ideas Design
Cloister is a residential interior design for a family of three generations in Hsinchu City, Taiwan. Two separate spaces were combined to correct a narrow original floor plan. Reflective materials such as mirrors and glass are applied to the floors, ceilings and walls, so natural light travels through the common areas. A mirror set beneath the ceiling creates an impression of greater height. A marble television wall divides the common area while keeping the plan open. The existing wood and marble floors were kept to reduce waste.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Changing the original narrowed floor plan, the designer knocked through and combined two individual spaces. With application of transparent/translucent design technique and a smooth flow, a great amount of natural lighting is introduced, creating an ever-changing effect as if in the cloister. The overlapping visual perception creates multilayers in the living space, containing a big family of three generations.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- This project is 149 square meters.
- Tags
- Interior Design, Residence, Cloister, Marble, Modern
- Production Technology
- In the middle of the living space, the marble TV wall divides the common area while keeping the space open-floor plan. From the entrance, one turns right to enter the living room with the study/workspace connected beside. While lights are switched off, the glass material will appear reflective, similar to a grey mirror to maintain privacy.
- Design Challenge
- From the dining room, the kitchen and the study's use of glass panels and the grey mirror above the TV wall, allow the users to interact and see each other's location without any barrier. The reflective feature helps connect each family member and the common areas, making the living space greater than the sum of each part.
- Project Duration
- This project is finished in October 2021 in Hsinchu City, Taiwan.
- Operation Flow
- The warmth of wood, and the delicacy of stone, amalgamate into an elegant atmosphere. Reflective and glass materials are ingeniously used, allowing lights to stream and travel through the common area, corresponding to the outside environment, contributing to a smooth clear flow.
- Research
- The place is decorated with veneers of CNS F1 label that the average formaldehyde emission is below 0.3(mg/L). The eco-friendly building materials, curtains, and Dulux coating are also used in the space. The original wooden and marble floorings are kept without doing extra reconstruction or redecoration. While combining the new design with them, the designer reduces possible waste.
- Inspiration
- Taking "cloister" as the main visual concept of the space, all sides of the floors, ceilings and walls are applied with reflective materials such as mirrors and glasses. For instance, the mirror material used beneath the ceiling creates an illusion of duplex apartment arrangement. While solving the problem of narrowed space, the technique can thus make the residents feel like the space is heightened.
- Image Credits
- Image #1-5: Photographer CHIU CHUANG-CHIEH, Cloister, 2021.
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