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As urban densities continue to intensify, architects are seeing an increased demand for designs that must fit within the preexisting frame of large, vertical buildings that are both designed and constructed by other architects. More often than not, the projects that evolve out of this situation end up manifesting images of fragmentation and flatness – disparate spaces that act as featureless framing devices for life. Complexity becomes embodied in what is impermanent, with the cohesion and dynamism of place being contained within the user, not the architecture. Tregunter, a recent project by Davidclovers, inverts this condition through the harnessing of precisely what typically hinders this type of project: the architectural constraints created by the encasing building.

From the architect: "Nestled amongst a forest of towers on Old Peak Road above Central Hong Kong, the Tregunter tower holds unique layered views of Victoria Harbor.  The abundance of bay windows, structural walls and beams that are common to residential towers would appear to constrain the possibilities of the apartment. However, by turning constraints into opportunities, davidclovers re-works the volumes of this apartment by using the ceiling and the floor.  Subtly elongating, pressing upward, and sloping downward, the ceiling produces variable sensations of compression and expansion – making the apartment seem larger than it is, drawing delicate lines that separate dining from living. Skillfully dodging and maneuvering around air-conditioning units and structural beams, the ceiling integrates artificial light and various materials – re-orienting the apartment toward the exterior.

The minimal use of wood and plaster shift the elevation of the apartment (typically on the walls) to the horizontal surfaces – enhancing the outward/upward thrust of the ceiling. Cabinets painted white, thicken and absorb storage, entertainment systems and integrate bench seating. Materials are used three-dimensionally throughout the apartment. Wood rotates from floors and ceilings to walls in the kitchen and mosaic tiles brighten toward windows in the bathrooms making the illumination from windows seem even brighter.”

Through this combination of formal arrangement and material treatment, Tregunter allows interiority to cease being simply the particularities of occupation and frees it to be expressive of the sensations associated with the act of inhabitation.

via suckerPunch