Villa LR
Love for Light
Our bright, white Villa LR is inspired by our client’s request for a ‘pure and clean space.’ The house, in Beijing, was already built. Inside this empty shell, we created a varied sequence of spatial experiences – from a palatial light-filled living room that opens to the garden to a ‘polar cave’ of a swimming pool in the basement – reflecting the different needs of the four generations that share the house. The whole interior is organized around a central axis that runs from the entrance to the living room and beautiful garden and ends with a jetty overlooking the lake. This axis emphasizes our strong, symmetrical design and creates the experience of a wonderful journey from inside to outside.
A grand entrance
A grand entrance
We gave Villa LR a raised entrance, meaning that once inside visitors partially overlook the extraordinarily expansive living room. From the entrance, they can either take the silver staircase, or the golden elevator. The reflective stairwell, made from polished steel – welded together before polishing, to create a seamless effect – is the backdrop for a colorful waterfall of light: our custom Chandelier 2. This majestic yet ethereal piece rises through the house’s four stories and adds color, light and movement to the space. Throughout the house, we added warmth to what could have become a cold, clinical interior with an intelligent use of natural and artificial light, pops of rich color and a luxurious materials palette.
A stage for all life’s events – from the everyday to the exceptional.
Living room
Living room
Reflecting on reflections
Chandelier 2 is the coruscating centerpiece of the house.’
Closest to heaven
Closest to heaven
At the top of the house, we used the unique spaces beneath the roof to create a sequence of very special places for the family’s children – a self-contained small world for them to enjoy their time with toys, games and friends. The rooms and spaces between them are almost like child-sized houses within the main house. Indeed, we added a mirrored playhouse in one of the playrooms. The kids’ bedrooms are faceted like diamonds. Well-designed lighting schemes add to the magical effect.
All the bedrooms are carefully tailored for the family members who sleep in them.
Bathroom retreats
What lies beneath
What lies beneath
We envisaged the four stories of the house as embodying a journey from the dark basement towards the white and light upper floors. The basement design was inspired by caves, with the swimming pool in particular channeling an ice cavern within a glacier. On this lowest level of the house, we placed all the functions that don’t really need direct daylight, including the silver garage, cinema, gym and wine cellar, complete with lounge and bar.
Fantasy facilities
The house is like a spectrum of different rooms and different spatial experiences.
A sense of direction
A sense of direction
The main logic of our design was to orient all the rooms to the landscape in an optimal way. All the main rooms face south, for example. The house’s central axis takes advantage of the beautiful setting, extending this to the gardens and culminating in the jetty and the peaceful view over the lake.
