Working from home comes with a flexible schedule, not to mention savings on travel costs, and you can be closer to family. But distractions can make working from home inefficient. It becomes critical to separate the spaces used for living from the ones used for working. Building an addition is, in most cases, the perfect solution.
Either upwards - on top of an existing house - or in the backyard, these extensions mean a barefoot commute, a potential view of the backyard, and a place to work without interruptions. It can include feature shelves, cabinets, and desks that are carefully integrated into the design.
These examples demonstrate that factors such as lighting, the choice of finish materials, and equipment carefully integrated into the design are key to achieving efficient workspaces, even in small spaces.
Workshop in the City / Romero Silva Arquitectos
Working atop a fully operational house during the construction of the project made us use only the existing, flat roof to ensure no demolition works or other intervention in the house were needed. It also ensured interesting views from the workshop. Only one month of construction was allowed, so all decisions were associated with dry construction operations, considerably accelerating the process, along with working with modulations of structural plywood to minimize material loss and decrease the amount of work to be done onsite.
Lantern Studio / Surman Weston
The clients’ brief for this project was to design a space for working, relaxing and entertaining, but above all, create a place that would encourage more engagement with the exceptionally mature and wooded South London garden. The primary garden-facing elevation is the critical design element for the scheme. Here we play with transparency and structure to create a building with a subtly shifting appearance throughout the day and night.
Writer’s Shed / WSD Architecture
The design sought to satisfy the client’s need for a functional workspace, but moreover to create a building that reflected his passion for children’s literature and mythologies. Drawing on the historically intimate relationship between writers and their sheds, the space was conceived as a haven in the city; a fairy-tale hut at the bottom of the garden where the client could retreat and immerse himself in his work.
4x4 Studio / Teresa Mascaro
The photographer’s studio has been built in the grounds of his residence on the outskirts of Greater São Paulo - Brazil. The available location for the new building is a sloping area with lots of greenery therefore comes the idea of releasing the constructed volume from the soil to bypass unnecessary cuts and deep diggings.
Lighthouse / Knowhow Shop
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Lighthouse is a micro-building designed and built like a piece of furniture. We discarded typical details and assemblies in favor of new methods of construction from the ground up. The result is a project designed to test our craft in materials and our perceptions of space. Lighthouse is an office for our business, a showcase of our craft, and an example of the huge potential within rethinking the way we design and build.
Kusy Kawsay / AL BORDE + UTI - Universidad Tecnológica Indoamérica + David Guambo
The problem that triggers this work comes together with the duty of his author: I became a big fan of loud music, it allowed me to do my architecture school assignments during the nights, but I did not realize that this bothered my neighbors. The project is a small cabin/studio to do homework and listen to music without disturbing anybody. An introspection space settled down into the slope of the terrain, leaving at its lower base a meeting and rest space for the neighbors, which can be under the shade.
Writer's Shed / Matt Gibson Architecture + Design
Camouflaged and nestled into a modest residential garden, the Writers Shed provides an isolated workspace for a creative writer. The outbuilding sits in the seldom utilized back corner of the block, located in a quiet, leafy residential suburb in Melbourne's South East. Masquerading itself amongst the garden landscape and boundary fences the shed is one with the landscape – a living part of the garden rather than an imposition on it. Sitting inside at the desk there's a certain inherent delight in bunkering down to look out to the garden and house beyond.
Writing Pavilion / Architensions
Writing and drawing are activities that contribute to the creation of a parallel imaginative world and to producing infinite options whenever a condition of isolation or immersive solitude is needed. The small space is located in the lush and protected garden of a creative couple involved in the arts.
Taringa Treehouse / Phorm architecture + design
Taringa Treehouse is a detached residential extension located in a backyard. It is both integrated and independent of the original house. The treehouse instigates a shift in occupation within the Site, reflecting an attitude of informality inspired by a significant tree and the peculiar territory it occupies. These ‘backyards’ tend to be overgrown, unruly spaces, and are the domain of children and makeshift structures. The treehouse is devised as an invitation to visit and engage with this distinct yet typically unchartered territory.
This article is part of the ArchDaily Topic: Tiny. Every month we explore a topic in-depth through articles, interviews, news, and projects. Learn more about our monthly topics here. As always, at ArchDaily we welcome the contributions of our readers; if you want to submit an article or project, contact us.
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