WINDOW HOUSE
The apartment resides in one of four tower blocks, with the signature exterior being a Tetris game of stacked apartments framed within their box outlines. At certain floors, bridges – or sky terraces borrowing from the property’s namesake – span across towers, a characteristic gesture that brings the tropical outdoors up from the ground plane and closer to the residents living in the higher floors. Inside the apartment, full-height windows frame views to the outside, and dramatically flood the house with natural daylight as a consequence – this was the scene that greeted us when we first stepped into the apartment. The bare house with its open plan – removed of internal walls – certainly appeared much larger by drawing the exterior inside.
In Window House, we were resolved to keep these very feature windows within box-frames, as though they were niches carved out from between solid walls, in which full-height views were displayed. As if an extension of the box-windows, a series of volumes composed of solids and voids, twists and turns around the internal walls of the house, defining the various programmes for an almost free-form shared space. Solids conceal storage and services within, while voids become display niches or threshold portals. A shoe cabinet marks the entrance, a book case sits in the open study, and a console piece becomes the focus for a gathering around the coffee table. The communal spaces of the living and dining areas evoke an outdoor terrace or patio, sweeping in from the exterior on a floor of slate tiles – charred, yet cool to the touch and perfect for the hot afternoon sun. On a recent visit, we spotted a family of garden gnomes taking residence in a couple of niches.
