MAPLE HE

The design explores the meaning and relationships of shared living as young professionals in a strange city. Anna and I met as roommates in Vancouver. We both started to know the new city by knowing people living with and around us. They gave us the primary image of what the city is like. The place we live, ‘the house’ centres our world in the new living environment. It is just like how the grand taircase has become a critical place in the Paris Opera House (Palais Garnier) where different circulations converge and conflict, creating 
opportunities to exchange physical and visual contacts. 

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Anna and I we share some common ground that ‘the house’ should express our professional practices but also contain our wish to share and understand each other. The doors to the inside are quite discrete. After taking a side path and following the paving, an internal courtyard opens up the view where the private units and the chef ’s kitchen all connect. The ground floor is a public area that is defined by exposing the materials of the façade and paving. The brick wall stretches all the way down to the backyard and a variety of flooring materials depicts the zoning and continuation of space.

The interior of the house is ‘cut’ open to let the
southern sun into the herb garden. The private
units are therefore laid at the furthest corners to the courtyard. They are distant from exposure but the lower walls give back the connection in space. The house also further represents our idea of shared living in a bigger community. The backyard is designed as an unconditioned space that could facilitate activities between neighbours but would also be the space where we could both enjoy a summer evening.