A highly flexible private residence, with sliding elements allowing the space to be reconfigured throughout.
The clients for this project were looking for a rather unusual home with flexible, open and dynamic spatial and functional characteristics, not unlike those of an American loft. The commission became an opportunity to reimagine the house as a place to accommodate the ever-changing functions and formalities implied by contemporary living. Labics’ approach was based on the relationship between flexible and defined space, between space serving several functions and those which are functionally determined. Although the project attempted to establish neutral, flexible areas that go beyond the typological organization of a traditional house, the space is nonetheless constrained by a rigid, pre-existing structure. The layout was therefore based on a series of spaces –  study, bedrooms, bathrooms, living and dining rooms – which follow an east-west orientation, and therefore the progression of natural daylight throughout the space. The space modules can be manipulated, opened and dissolved with the use of sliding elements.
This flexible approach allows the arrangement of furniture to determine different uses for the space, allowing it to be endlessly reconfigured both functionally and physically. Sliding transparent surfaces, curtains and containers, book cases and storage units, permit multiple views through the house and allow for various degrees of permeability and transparency, enclosure and opacity.