The Davidson Prize

The challenges associated with working from home include finding space, grappling with the intrusion of work into home life, being inside for long periods without the ritual of the daily commute, and lack of social interaction.

This kinetic furniture-based solution explores how modestly scaled communal spaces in apartment blocks, such as landings and hallways, could be adapted as overspill space for a multitude of uses including working, living and safe socialising with neighbours.

The design proposes a series of movable timber elements – doors, hatches, benches, and countertops. The kinetic elements are scaled to human proportions and allow shared entrance hallways to be modified to suit different situations.

You could open a hatch from your kitchen to have a morning coffee and chat with your neighbour across the hall. Or you could pull out a desk and set up your workstation for the day outside the confines of your normal living space, before packing it all up and ‘heading home’ for the evening – a psychological transition between home and work.

Team:

Graeme Nicholls Architects
Graeme Nicholls

Secchi Smith
Tommaso Secchi, Josh Smith