POWIS CLOUD
Location:
Year:
Type:
Stage:
Role:
Designed by:
London, UK
2016
Private House
Completed 2018
Architect
Lily Jencks Studio
Project Awards:
Surface Design Award Winner 2019
Photography © Luke Hayes
This extension to a roof terrace in West London is inspired by the idea of living in the clouds. The geometry of the interior and the choice of materials all reinforce this experience, creating a soft sensuous master bedroom and bathroom that dissolves into the sky at the top of the house. If the nature of architecture is grounded, fixed, solid and permanent, then fabrics are its antithesis. Curtains, blinds, bedsheets, towels encircle the body: they dry, caress and darken. The project investigates how various spaces can be temporally created through semi-opaque curtains, changing how the space is used and perceived at different times.
Photography © Luke Hayes
Photography © Luke Hayes
The envelope is a simple rectangle. Within the rectilinear box are a series of translucent or transparent objects. The acrylic lightwell, cupboards a balustrade each refract soft light around the room.
Photography © Luke Hayes
Photography © Luke Hayes
Photography © Luke Hayes
The cloud is a form that is dynamic and whose boundaries are never quite known. The project uses materials that have a texture and effect that softens distinct edges, and dissolves or thickness surfaces through translucency, reflection, or fuzziness.
Photography © Luke Hayes
Circles and curves define the areas for the body around the bed, bath, shower and toilet, creating enclosures softened by curtains of various translucency. Each surface glows with light or subtly reflects the surroundings, creating an atmosphere that is as delicate as the veil of a cloud for a gentle sleeping environment.
Photography © Luke Hayes
Photography © Luke Hayes
Photography © Luke Hayes
Photography © Luke Hayes
Lily Jencks Studio: Lily Jencks, Pati Santos, John Yim.
Project Awards: Surface Design Award Winner 2019 in the category "Housing interior surface"