The Challenge:
- A time-poor couple juggling demanding jobs while raising 3 children, desired a home where they can find balance with their busy lives.
Global Design & Architecture Design Awards 2024
First Award | Interior (Residential) (Concept)
Project Name: Silicon Valley Live-Work-Play
Category: Interiors – Residential (Concept)
Studio Name: Symbiotic Living (for Interior Architecture & Interior Design)
Design Team: Sharlene Young, Bill Patry
Area: 2,470 SF (Existing Living Area); 3,150 SF (New Living Area)
Year: Unbuilt
Location: San Jose, California, USA.
Consultants: Bearington Studios (Building Design), and ABR Engineers (Structural Engineer)
Photography Credits: –
Render Credits: Digital Streaks, Chisel Oracion
Other Credits: –
- Beyond the daily routines, the family desired spending time together to enjoy their favorite activities, including weekly game night and supporting their passion for music, both as individual artists and in group settings.
- They also desired Working-from-home amenities for options to host small group meetings, in addition to work from home themselves.
The Solution:
- Support Live, Work, Play. Design for Well-Being in mind.
- The addition and renovation transformed a suburban house to support live/work functions, and the family’s passion for music.
- Versatility is built into communal areas, so the family can adapt the spaces as needed, be it for a game of chess or enjoying a meal together as a family or hosting a brainstorm session for the office. By incorporating an accordion wall which serves to enclose a private practice alcove, it also provides acoustical absorption and can transform the space to define a stage for the musical family.
- Beyond addressing physical functional needs, Biophilic Design strategies were incorporated for emotional wellbeing benefits, such as for calming and restoration. Strategic openings provide direct indoor/outdoor connections to private gardens by Living Room and by Kitchen/Dining Room. Skylight above the Coffee Area provides a view of the sky from deep within the home.
- Evidence based data through International Living Future Institute:
- Having a visual connection with nature – either as a view or with direct access to the outside – lowers blood pressure and heart rate, improves mental engagement and mood and enhances cognitive performance. Memory recall increases by 10 – 15% when there is access to a view to the natural world. Problem solving goes up by 6 – 7% when seated with views onto vegetation
- At the Coffee Area at the heart of the home, a custom screen at the skylight modulates the bright sunlight and provides changing light and shadows throughout the day, reinforcing connection to the cycle of the day, which help regulate our sleep-wake cycle, our Circadian rhythm, and influences our mood and energy levels.
All in all, helping the family find balance in their busy lives by making spaces functional and adapting to the various uses, but also by enhancing physical comfort and promoting emotional and psychological health.
