designSTUDIO has slowly but surely been plugging along on some modular designs over the past few years. Last year we teamed up with start-up modular company ClearSpace Modular and will soon be going live with some modular designs that will be aimed squarely at the segment of the modern modular market that we feel keeps being overlooked, namely the affordable end.
We have decidedly taken a more mid-century approach to the designs and overall ethos of the line. Floor plans are smaller, a typical 3/2 within a 1200 s.f. floor plan, much like what our grandparents would have been used to (though in our case the whole family doesn't have to share a single bathroom!) and overall materiality and detailing are more in keeping with the simple material palettes of that era. We are also maximizing the connections to the exterior with large expanses of sliding doors, unlike most standard modular offerings.
Once we feel like we have the fine-print of the product lines finalized we'll surely post the designs and particulars as well as link to the dedicated web-site for the line. Until then, we wanted to share a little project that sprung almost fully formed from the work we were doing with the modular line. It is informed by what we've learned working on the modular line, and will serve as the smallest member of the modular family.
Conceived as a stand-alone mini-efficiency for remote sites and more temporary stays, the CasitaSpace is a 420 s.f. module with an integrated 8' covered deck and entry porch. The overall idea is that the space is a vessel to view the landscape through. Dark and protected, it is set up to frame a landscape view, and offers up protection from the elements as well as a gracious interior space within which to feel protected and secure. In that sense it is an updated "cave", though with a lot more amenity than merely protection from the elements and a protected view out.
Along one long wall are located the 3/4 bathroom, the kitchen, and on the exterior deck, a utility/storage area. A nook adjacent to the entry door can house a murphy bed, built-in work area, or storage/display wall. A small platform above the bathroom area can serve as a single sleeping platform up in the top of the overall space or as storage.
A small entry is carved out of the front corner of the space, to allow for a protected deck that steps down to the ground. A floor to ceiling translucent window on the end of the shower wall casts even light into the tiled bathroom space.
Tiny windows and skylights, pushed to the corners, as well as a floor to ceiling screened window at the entry, allow for gentle reflected light to infuse the space, all the while acting as a foil for the larger view out the end wall and across the covered exterior deck.
For additional info contact Mark Meyer at designSTUDIO.
