What do you do when one 14m2 room (located in Moscow, Russia) has to accommodate sleeping, lounging, studying, storage, media equipment and so much more? Why build a giant interactive box that takes over almost half the room. Yup, that’s right, INT2 Architecture took a small space and made it smaller by filling it with a large plywood box and came up with a final result that organizes, simplifies and makes the room feel oh so much bigger, and when they where done they added a couple of fun graphics on the floor and wall for a little bit of personality.
To make this work, the box needed to be as creatively organized as the room itself and this was done by designing all of its storage around a centre cavity that holds both the (single) bed and lounge area. The storage components that surround the bed include a wardrobe and bed linen cupboard, an entire family’s worth of book shelves, drawers for small items, a chest of drawers for larger items, and even a shelf that holds a projector.
Originally the room was disjointed and filled with a variety of freestanding objects and furnishings including a desk, wardrobe and bed. The room was disjointed, cluttered and busy, never feeling cozy and comfortable. By containing the various storage components on one side of the room within a large box, the space takes on a minimalist aesthetic that was then enhanced by large triangular graphics on both the wall and floor. By pointing the triangles outward, they also visually increase the size of the room and by changing up the colours, they create a nonstatic dynamic.
Its really amazing how much storage can be achieved in one small space when designed and built properly and by using plywood, the costs are kept minimal.
How awesome is this pull out pantry style wardrobe? When closed you would never even know it was there.
A freestanding desk is still part of the final design but since it is now the only free standing piece of furniture, it adds a layer of interest rather then clutter and by creating a vignette of (bug) art over the desk, it becomes less utilitarian and more fun.
Adding to the fun is the opposite wall, which happens to be next to the entrance. Here a sliding panel hides a full length mirror- or exposes it and when the panel is centred and the projector is turned on, it becomes the TV. The other half of the wall has been painted with blackboard paint to create its own multipurpose moment of bulletin board and free style drawing.
There you have it, a room is filled with a giant box to create a multi purpose space that is fun, beautiful, organized and definitely a conversation piece, and its all thanks to the ingenious design of INT2 Architecture
