Adapted Living - Home for a Wheelchair-bound Inhabitant

Compiled by Team IAnD

Information: Courtesy C.T. Architects & RTF Awards

Photography: Tim Van de velde; courtesy C.T. Architects

 

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‘Loft MM’ as it is called, designed by Nick Ceulemans of C. T. Architects, Belgium, is specifically designed as an apartment for a wheelchair-bound inhabitant but "absolutely nothing even hints at a handicap"!

The very first criterion under consideration was that the home should not appear any different from a regular well-appointed apartment. A primary and significant take-off, this, bearing in mind the psychological aggregation that might have gone into the project; even more so, since the homeowner was once a healthy man, who, after a freak accident, was now left with diminished motor and memory skills.

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So we have the architects remodel a small ground floor storage space cum garage into a micro-loft, arranged within a 3m wide by 25m long space. One sees a predictable and pragmatic ramp at the entrance, and once inside, a serene ambience with white walls and ceilings combined with rough-sawn oak floors opens up to a familiar succession of increasingly private spaces: living room, dining area, narrow hallway with kitchen on one side and bathroom on the other, and at the end, the bedroom/study, which opens out via sliding glass doors, onto a small terrace space.

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Addressing functionality, space has been opened up, bringing in natural light from the windows and the rear terrace; and by clubbing wet areas and storage units into 2 compact volumes, where the role of sliding shutters can camouflage everything to present a clean uncluttered ambience. The camouflage principle is ingeniously applied in the bathroom, where a large pivoting panel separates the toilet and sink from the shower and washer-dryer. The panel can be opened to hide the washer-dryer from view or closed, in which case the bathroom effectively becomes the guest restroom.

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Furniture is versatile and kept to a minimum. Even the kitchen is electrically height-adjustable, so conveniences the user to reach for his needs easily. In fact, almost all the furniture and design solutions are custom-made, both, for the homeowner’s convenience and to comply with Belgian disability codes.  So, we have the dining table designed with built-in shelves at both ends and a flexible swing-arm wall lamp above; while the bed is fitted with a floating desk at its head, which conceals all the technical requirements of a hospital bed, including adjustable height for entire bed, head or feet, removable side rails, etc; also fitted is an interesting light fixture/electrical hub that swivels to illuminate both bed and work surface and to provide electrical sockets at a convenient height for the user.

Another very thoughtful aspect has been to involve the homeowner – all furniture is painted by him by hand – contributing to his sense of self-awareness and self-confidence. In fact, in collaboration with the client, many of the furniture pieces are currently being further developed and produced by different manufacturers in order to present elegant alternatives to the world of universal design.

 

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It is little wonder then that this project has been profusely applauded, winning the architects several laurels – the latest one being the First Interior Award by the Rethinking the Future organization in New Delhi earlier this month.