Interior Design Process - UBC House

As designers, analyzing our clients needs, goals, and lifestyle is one of the most important things on our to do lists. In every every project, we need to assess the“Pros & Cons”  of the existing space, which we try to volume up so the pro side wins. The challenge is we also need to marry the functionality and ideal design with the client’s budget concerns.

For a recent UBC house project, we were tasked with redesigning the master bedroom. The goal was to open the cramped closet sized den to create an open, yet still functional space.The client still wanted to use the den as a more open office that could store papers and documents.  

We started the first phase of our design by measuring the existing walls, windows and furniture to understand the space and possibilities for a fresh new design.

Before the renovation, the room was crowded with furniture and the green walls gave it a closed in feeling. The den was a cold, dark room with little attraction as a workspace. 

UBC HOUSE PHOTOS - BEFORE  

In this bedroom the cons were:

1. No focal Point
2. Closed space
3. Need for built in or smaller scale furnishings
4. Not enough lighting

The first problem was that there was clearly no focal point for new elements to be arranged by, and there was too much positive volume. (Furniture and clutter).  We felt that we needed to design additional millwork for storage that could also become part of the focal point for the room.

We began the process by searching for some inspirational photos of the bedroom elevation which we could reference and present to the clients to show them how the room could be transformed.The following photo was one of the ones that caught our eyes.

 

Being able to read before  bed was a lifestyle need for the clients at UBC house, so we intended to create an optimal environment  for reading. The couple wanted to be able to store their books in a way that also left the room open. For this reason, we designed the millwork with deep shelves for storing  books and accessories. We wanted to create symmetry on either side of the bed which would help the room feel more balanced. We also wanted to create a framed millwork panel with two flush lights for reading and two pendant lights with individual switch controls for the comfort of each reader. 

After getting inspired, we started to draw some preliminary elevations. Take a look at our elevations below, and you can see how we tooled our inspiration from the photos to make them  work for this specific space.

UBC HOUSE PHOTOS - AFTER

In the end, the millwork solved the problem of the overflow of positive space and we also  painted the walls a pale oak colour to allow more reflection of the natural light. We commissioned a painter friend to provide a soothing and relaxing scene that we could use as a focal point. This focal point can be seen from all angles of the room. 

Changing the existing pot lights to higher output, warm temperature LEDS also helped to increase the volume of the light in the room, which created a sensation of openness. Around the bed we added the built in millwork as we designed in our elevation drawings.

For the office, we ran the millwork storage down the length of the north wall, adding a small space for a desk at the end. We removed the partition door to the den, and added additional millwork storage to the wall behind the desk area, for paperwork, documents etc.

       For UBC house we were able to triumph over the cons, bringing out the warmth and openness of the space. By taking away the interrupting volume and replacing it with recessed storage and long clean lines, we were able to create the open and positive space the clients were looking for. Our clients at UBC house are thrilled with their new design and we look forward to making another successful marriage in the form and function of the Tao.