ADNZ/RESENE 2010 NATIONAL DESIGN AWARDS

The brief was to add a self-contained studio to existing commercial premises which already had a first-floor bedroom studio with an internal link to the workshop/office. The new studio was to span the building, retain the bedroom studio and the integrity of the structure.

In response, four steel portal spider legs were designed to span the original building, which had an in-situ concrete post-and-beam structure supporting the building envelope. This required a structural upgrade, increasing the size of the existing footings and steel plates bolted to the concrete beams.

The new studio has been integrated into the steel portal supporting the frame and become a feature of the building as a whole. Recycled tallowwood from telegraph poles was milled, laminated together and then drilled with tensioned steel rods, compressing the flooring, to allow it to span 4.5m self-supported.

Refrigeration panels were used for the roof/ceiling, providing a thermal, cost-effective roofing product. Skylights have been added to maximise light in the living area.

A mixture of weatherboards was introduced to the ends of the building. Black polycarbonate ties in with the bedroom studio on the first floor and weatherboards on a nearby apartment block. A spiral staircase links the buildings, and maximises restricted parking space.

Story by: Trendsideas