UR APT | STUDIO8 ARCHITECTS

UR Duplex Apartment in Shanghai by STUDIO8
— “ALWAYS HAVING YOU IN SIGHT” APARTMENT connected by one “bridge” and two staircases

How to describe and preserve time when you are with your loving ones? When you are at home, you might want to have some “me” time as well as have all your family members in sight.

Shanghai-based architecture design studio STUDIO8 has completed a 420-square-metre duplex apartment for a young couple with two kids. The couple wants a spatial and clean space where they can have their own space for different activities and at the same time be able to spend quality time with family and friends. Converting the owners’ way of living into timeless space design is a key focus in residential design for STUDIO8. “The owners of a home shall always be the soul of the place and our key inspiration,” said the architect.

The apartment is located on a quiet street in the center of Shanghai along which grows French platanus and magnolia trees over ten-meter-height. The tree crowns are just at the height of the balcony window, which make the apartment an urban retreat for the family. The project involved transforming a 4.6-meter height space into a duplex apartment creating connections between various rooms and updating it to a better match with the clients’ contemporary tastes.

The owner told the architects that they don’t need too many rooms. After listening to the family’s needs and description of their daily life, the architects have decided to make the space as open as possible creating most chance of sight connections between areas. Taking advantage of the height of the apartment, a sculptural volume formed by a passage, a straight staircase and a fireplace is inserted into the junction of living room, dining room and kitchen, joining as well as dividing the public and private functions of the house. In order to make the mezzanine more solid and stable, STUDIO8 has decided to use reinforced concrete as structure, which makes it crucial to study the opens of each space and position the beams strategically hidden without affecting the ceiling height for both floors.

The passage of central volume starts from the entrance, passing through the dining room and living room at its both sides, horizontally connecting the kid’s room, storage room, couples’ walk-in closet and husband’s study room on the upper floor, while the straight staircase and the fireplace, as the feature of the double height living space creates the vertical connection. From the family room downstairs to the study room upstairs, from the veranda to the living room, from the passage upstairs to the fireplace corner downstairs, the family can have sight connection with each other from every corner of the open area. A second more private metal staircase is also from the master bedroom to their walk-in closet.

Special lighting features are designed to complement the humble material choices. Lava stone and stucco of marble powder provide the space a timeless homogeneous shade with subtle reflection on surfaces of different textures. A dynamic modular sofa island is placed in the center of the living room to connect all areas around, where the kids can climb from one side to the other. The family room next to it, being comparatively the lowest space, is opening towards the double height staircase with continues light oak floor and low furniture setting that make the space cozy and spatial. Beside the dining table with irregular pebble-shaped frosted glass pendants hanging over is the veranda and the warm grey monochromatic kitchen. The kitchen is under the walk-in closet that limited its ceiling height. But thanks to the connection with the dining room and the sight of the street trees from the veranda windows, it feels just like a breath between the two areas.

“We really enjoy the time STUDIO8 has planned for us in different corners and the fact that we can always have each other in sight”, said the owner. And that’s exactly STUDIO8’s aim for this duplex apartment.