Firm: Parallect Design
Designer: Nan Yang
Project location: Kunming
Completion Year: 2017
Gross Built Area: 250sqm
Photo credits: Nan Yang
The apartment is in a 90s-residential district in Kunming, Yunnan Province. Many years ago, the developer opened 2 standard unit layer to create a loft apartment, although the indoor area is very large, but the layout of the house is extremely unreasonable, many building and construction problems have been left behind. Designers aim to create a modern indoor space for a family of three generations to enjoy a comfortable life.
The restaurant and kitchen are connected to make the whole space looks more open, and it also improved the indoor daylight. The table is flexible furniture, with a normal width of 1.5m to meet five people in a family’s needs to use, and could also be expanded to 1.8m wide for the party.
Through careful analysis of customers’ needs and lifestyles, the kitchen has been reserved lots of room for home cooking, and space for old home appliances and kitchenware. Because the old aluminum alloy windows have cracked, heat and sound insulation are very poor, so the external windows of the entire house are replaced with new double glazing windows.
While maintaining the openness of the living space, the living room brings together all the functional requirements in a small, concentrated space, creating a powerful result–high space, attractive terraces, and large windows, and outdoor landscapes. The house only uses the ceiling for the kitchen and the toilet, and the rest of the house retains the beam and column and painted them white and used gray finishes for the roof to strengthen the frame structure of the old house.
The design language is modest and simple: the layout of the space is clear and readable, fits the needs of customers.
The materials lead by gray wall tiles and floor tiles give the bathroom a sense of order, emphasizing the elements of the combination. The ware chosen by the designer is also an inseparable part of the whole design.
The use of the same wood color material makes the floor, corners and other details in the space have a strong contrast.
Transparent corridor space connects both inside and outside, large open windows bring the outdoor environment into the interior from the terrace, and the green planting embellishment creates a feeling of internal and external intermediation.
The study was raised one step higher and was separated by the showcase and the living room, using a half-open state to show a sense of a half public space. The teahouse has an outdoor tea table which is convenient to move to the terrace at any time.
The terrace uses antiseptic wood flooring and reserves space for water pipes on the roof, and two old concrete pumps are fitted with a new half-transparent block, with spotlights for lighting at night. The exterior wall of the terrace is painted with a simple grey waterproof coating, which is matched with antiseptic wood and interacts with the indoor space.
