10 Tips
Hallways and passages are essential spaces giving access to the various rooms within a house.
They provide an important function but they can and should be beautiful spaces as well.
This hallway in our Avonhead high performance house leads from the open plan living to the bedroom wing.
The library and three bedrooms are on the right facing the north garden. The guest toilet, bathroom, store room and study are to the left facing south with views of the stream. The hall is largely internal.
To give life to this space we have used a number of architectural tricks.
1. Full height and full width window at the end provides light and a garden view.
2. Bedroom doors are set back from the hallway wall creating a small lobby acting as a transition space from hall to bedroom.
3. These lobbies have flat ceilings providing a squeeze in height from the sloping ceilinged hall to bedrooms with their high cathedral ceilings.
4. The lobbies break up what could have been a blank wall with doors along both sides of the hall.
5. The hall is not large at 1m but the sloping ceiling and end window give a sense of space and release.
6. The NZ beech battened ceiling overhead (yet to be installed) will provide warmth and contrast to the polished concrete floor below.
7. The white walls and polished floor allow light to be reflected and play across the surfaces.
8. When the bedroom doors are left open light shafts across the floor as can be seen in the image. At night lights in the bedroom lobby ceilings will do the same
9. The white walls will form a small gallery space for some of the clients art.
10. The acoustics of the hard walls and floor will be softened with wool acoustic batts above the timber batten ceiling.
If you are interested in high performance housing and want to create great spaces for great living come talk to me.
Builder John Garlick Builders
SIP by Formance
Tapes and wrap by Pro Clima NZ Ltd
Acoustic insulation by Terra Lana Products Ltd.
