By converting the unused areas hidden in the roofspace, homeowners are able to add extra bedrooms, games rooms, or simply give themselves easier-to-access storage space, without having to move house or apply for planning approval. And with more of our lives now occurring under our own roofs, the additional space provided by an attic conversion is more popular than ever.
Without the ability to alter the roof’s pitch, however, the low-height areas of an attic room often remain unusable, and the resulting usable space is restricted by how low its functions can go. By positioning low-height features and activities in these nooks and crannies, attic rooms can make the best of the space they’re given.
But converted attic spaces aren’t the only ones that suffer from a lack of height. The tight triangle of space found under staircases is a common character in architects’ Pythagorean nightmares. With simple and clever alteration, however, these under-the-stairs cavities can also use their restricted height as an advantage. Here are 19 recent examples of interior projects that transform these low-height spaces for better use.
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Brazilian Houses That Transform and Reuse Attic SpaceUsing the Angled Space Under a Roof’s Pitch to Add Storage
Flat in Zverynas / HEIMA architects
The main focus of this project was to bring as much light into the property as possible, but as the main outer walls are all pitched, this left little space for storage. Using as much of the sloped wall underneath the windows as possible, a small row of block shelving runs across the entire width and depth of the living space and bedrooms. This allows the family home to be kept tidy, with storage always close at hand.
Dots 2 Commercial Building and House / JYA-RCHITECTS
As a neighborhood living facility, this narrow building offers small rooms for rent, but squeezing in as many rooms and shared spaces as possible means there’s little room for additional storage. While part of the roof cavity was removed to make way for a well-lit outdoor terrace on the floor below, the remaining area inside the attic was smaller still. Low-height shelving was pushed back, extending the usable space in the attic as far as it would go and keeping the rest of the floorspace open.
House F / Delugan Meissl Associated Architects
While this rural conversion’s open kitchen doesn’t suffer from a lack of height, it puts every square inch of available space underneath its sloping roof to good use. By angling its cabinet doors, a full-height, full-width wall of kitchen storage is provided.
Using the Forgotten Space Under the Stairs
Piil Tree House Retreat / Arsenit
With just 19m2 of space over only one and a half levels, the Piil Tree House Retreat cabins need to pack a lot into a small space. With kitchen, dining, desk space, and a path through to the upper level all required to fit around a double bed, the architects have inventively utilized the understairs cavity as bedside storage.
Elsternwick Penthouse / Office Alex Nicholls
On the surface, by combining two penthouse apartments, this project seems to already have enough space. As an intergenerational family home, however, enough is never enough. The family is brought together in the large space by a ‘library spine’ that begins ‘embedded into the staircase,’ as the architects explain, housing their collections of books, art, and artifacts for all to share.
The Island Kitchen Home / G architects studio
Transformations don’t always take a lot of expense and work, however. Using the staircase’s incumbent support joist, all this project had to do to increase the usability of the space under the stairs was to slide in a couple of well-measured boards, resulting in far more useful open shelving.
Using Low-Height Spaces For Seating
CBO Residence / MOLD Architects
An alternative low-effort way to utilize spaces found under staircases is to create a new seating area. With the simple inclusion of a low step and a flat cushion, a corner sofa is provided in this small, open-plan home.
Apartament MUSA / flipê arquitetura
By utilizing the low area underneath the stairs as both seating and additional storage, the Apartment MUSA is able to reserve its higher spots for higher pursuits, such as the installation of a climbing wall in an open double-height dining area, for a sports-loving client.
House HD / MDDM Studio
The high angle of this townhouse’s roof means that only the far edges of the top floor’s living space pose a danger to its residents’ heads. By positioning a seating element with its back at the base of the slope, the seated users are unlikely to interfere with the ceiling, either while sitting down or standing up.
Utilizing Sloping Ceilings for Functional Home Work Space
Working from home is another activity that takes place sitting down, and one that home spaces are being asked to cater to far more than in previous years. When finding themselves suddenly in need of home desk setups, many turned to the half-height space underneath sloped ceilings.
Casa do Arco Apartment / ArquitecturaViva
The Casa do Arco Apartment, for example, includes a living space with barely any straight exterior walls, yet has no problem providing a home office as it’s able to position a wide double desk at one of the otherwise unusable edges.
House M / Studio Atomic
A raised mezzanine floor is able to play host to an idyllic home working space at House M, positioned with the roof’s skylights at eye level.
Pushing Low-Height Task Spaces to the Edge
Nhà Voi 7 Gardens House / DA VÀNG studio
There are many other occasions, meanwhile, where people naturally only use the area below waist height. This house, for example, uses a snug alcove under the stairs as a separate laundry room, as users only need to bend down while using it.
Deventon Residence / Jolson Architecture and Interiors
A double bathroom basin – a point where users’ with outstretched hands form triangles with their body shapes – fits easily under the lowest part of this ceiling at the Deventon Residence.
Marvila Apartment / KEMA studio
Renovation works here are the Marvila Apartment included pushing the kitchenette and fitted storage units right up to the lower ends of the already converted roof space, in order to maximise the higher section in between.
Using Low-Height Spaces for the Horizontal Inaction of Sleep
Nicolai Paris Apartment / noa* network of architecture
Another common home activity that rarely needs a room’s full height is sleeping. While users need height at the head of the bed to comfortably sit up straight, barely any height is needed above the mattress at the other end. By pushing a bed under a low, sloping ceiling, the Nicolai Paris Apartment, for example, is able to squeeze an extra guest bed in its tight upper level.
Garcia Apartment / Luis Paulo Andrade Arquitetos
This apartment explains how you don’t need a sloping ceiling to benefit from a bed’s lack of height. The 6,000+ sq ft penthouse doesn’t want for space, but by adding extra mezzanine beds above others in three of the bedrooms, the apartment is able to expand its capacity to as many as 22 guests.
Other Projects With Beds in Low Places
Rose Building / Aurora Arquitectos + Furo
The Use of Half-Height Spaces as Children’s Rooms sub 1
Liang House / Atelier ArchFAN
One hard-to-spot use for these low-height spaces that should be more obvious, is as child-specific areas. Under a sloping vaulted ceiling, for example, this home is able to include a two-story children’s bedroom.
House in Marutamachi / td-Atelier + ENDO SHOJIRO DESIGN
Rather than being set under a lowered ceiling, the children’s room on the second floor of this house is lower than neighboring rooms due to a raised floor. The 600mm height difference allows child users to interact more comfortably with those surrounding them.
Find these low-height interior spaces in this My ArchDaily folder created by the author.
This article is part of an ArchDaily series that explores features of interior architecture, from our own database of projects. Every month, we will highlight how architects and designers are utilizing new elements, new characteristics, and new signatures in interior spaces around the world. As always, at ArchDaily, we highly appreciate the input of our readers. If you think we should mention specific ideas, please submit your suggestions.
