House 47 is a minimalist home designed by Wünderwall Design situated in a high-end suburban neighborhood approached with the sensibilities of understated luxury with its myriad of functional spaces across 5-storys. There was an emphasis on selecting materials that could provide a sense of warmth throughout the house. To maintain continuity and a unified tone, the material palette is kept minimal with dominantly natural textures from oak wood, terrazzo and marble with cleaner finishes accented by PVD coated steel.
Entering the home through a huge pivoting glass door, the double volume foyer is divided by a low marble wall with fluted glass to contain the space from spilling into the larger layout. An irregular shaped mirror flanks the foyer providing glimpses into the living area beyond.
The large living area was split into equal halves with each side composing vignettes that connect to the outside trees. The division of the space was defined by a cantilever bridge which houses the multi-split type air-conditioners used for the entire house. Converging all the services in the center allowed for a cleaner double-volume space on both sides. Due to the sizes of the air-conditioners, it was determined that the width would be enough to form an accessible gantry that can provide an interesting viewpoint over the two volumes of space below.
The huge ground floor space has the impression of seamless connectivity as doors leading to other spaces are concealed except for a glass door to the wet kitchen. Besides doors, the living room TV and devices are all cleverly hidden behind a large concealed sliding joinery, executing a highly minimalist first impression. Extreme care and attention has been given to this particular aspect of minimalism including switches, lighting, services, visual contours and more.
Achieving aesthetic uniformity is another key challenge as the areas are segregated across five stories. To maintain continuity and a unified tone, the material palette is kept minimal with dominantly natural textures from oak wood and various veined marble with cleaner finishes accented by PVD coated steel. For example, the client had originally intended to clad fully the wall behind the dining table in marble but was convinced with a more subtle approach to treat the marble as an art rather than a wall finish.
The result is an uncoated, naturally textured marble that hangs like an abstract painting forming an interesting backdrop to the dining. The visual continuity subtly began from the foyer with a low wall clad in Serpeggiante marble. The same stone leads into the living room visually as a low console and then further past the dining table as part of the lower steps before ascending the main staircase.
The design of the staircase further enhances the narrative of uniformity as it connects all the floors. Its balustrade is clad in its entirety in oak from ground to highest floor to keep the staircase visually clean and minimal, devoid of the usual zig-zag lines of staircase sections. The balustrades split from each other at angles but are reconnected visually as it climbs up.