Page 34 - ESPC Premier Living AW19

Premier LIVING

OPEN-PLAN spaces have been the layout of choice
in many homes in the 21st century. This allows
for a greater flow of light and a more social feel.
However, a disadvantage of open-plan spaces is
that they don’t allow for much privacy or separation
of the areas based on their different purposes.
Over the past two years, the concept of broken-
plan living has therefore become increasingly popular
in homes. A midpoint between open-plan and
conventional separate rooms, broken-plan living is
intended to offer the best of both worlds. Light and
space flow through but different areas are clearly
marked, using a variety of different methods.
Ludovic AuBlanc, Creative Director of Chaplins
Furniture, said: “Open-plan living has many
advantages. However, there often comes a time
when you need to carve out zones of privacy within
that space. One of our favourite tricks is to take a
modern bookcase or shelving system and use it to
partition a room. This year, we’ve noticed clients
riffing on the idea of Crittall-style windows, using
minimal black bookcases to frame a space.”
Furniture is a great and hassle-free way to
introduce broken-plan living into the open spaces
of your home. Shelving and bookcases can be
a particularly stylish and effective method of
zoning different areas, and this doesn’t involve
implementing any structural changes in your home.
You can also zone different areas in an open space
using different colour schemes or flooring.
However, if you are looking to improve privacy
and reduce noise in certain areas, you may want
to consider structural changes. Mezzanines can be
a particularly effective way of creating extra room
in homes and act as a visual distinction between
areas that serve different purposes. Architect
Jonathan Thomas from Dog + Fox Design installed
a mezzanine in his Edinburgh apartment. He said:
“The main benefit of adding a mezzanine was
flexibility. We wanted the new space to function
as a home office, an informal lounge, a home-
cinema and also a spare room when we had guests.
We didn’t have the space for these to be separate
rooms, so the open-plan design had to be flexible
enough to accommodate everything in one go.”
You could also consider the installation of lower
partition or glass walls to create separation and
allow more privacy between the zones, without
impacting the flow of light through the space.
Columns and steps are other structural changes
which can help to create the feel of different rooms
without affecting the sociability of the open space.
Half walls between different rooms are also an
effective way of achieving the broken-plan look. For Zone your home to allow more
those who have conventional segregated rooms in
their homes, widening the door between the kitchen privacy in an open-plan space
and dining room into an archway will help you create
a more social space while the areas remain separate.
Curtains can add some more privacy when required.
Offering a compromise between the light and BROKEN-PL AN LIVING
space of open-plan living and the privacy of separate
rooms, it seems the broken-plan trend is set to
become more and more popular in the future.

34 ESPC Premier Living