Vertical Home

In continuation of my study of complex geometries, I decided to redirect my exploration in the vertical plane. Under the same square footage as the horizontal home, 1,200 square feet, I managed to design a 5 story vertical home. Again avoiding the conventional design approach, I took inspiration from my favorite movie, Fantastic Mr. Fox directed by Wes Anderson, and designed a house within a tree.

Far from your typical “tree house”, this house makes the inside of a tree liveable. The floors are radially organized around the center of the tree to accommodate it’s circular form. This was difficult as I’ve never designed spaces in circles. The layout of the house is again divided into private and public sectors. The first two floors are designated public areas; with the main entry, kitchen and guest bathroom on the first floor, and a dining table and seating area on the second, the separation of public from private is clear. Additionally, the stairs on the first and second floor are on top of each other to deter non-residents from continuing to circulate up to the private levels of the home. Whereas there is a clear radial preservation of circulation on the upper floors.

There is a second residential entrance on the third floor that leads to the stairwell, and also an entrance to a single bedroom. The fourth and fifth floors are both double bedrooms. The wrap-around stairwell made space management difficult. In order to maximize space, I situated the bathrooms under the ascending staircases, and the beds and storage above the descending staircases. I designed the house with many windows to create an immersive experience for the residents. As the home is within a tree, I wanted to emphasize as many natural elements as possible. In doing so, I also limited the amount of artificial light needed, further strengthening the disconnect to the industrial world.