Hongxin Yujing

Simple and comfortable, open and inclusive. These were the expectations of the homeowners at the beginning of the design for their new home.

The project is located in Zaozhuang, Shandong, and is a ground-floor apartment with a basement in a small high-rise building. The original layout of the ordinary commercial house could not meet the homeowner's needs for both socializing and personal life.

So the designer made significant changes to the original layout of the public areas. In order to accommodate a diverse range of life scenarios in a larger interactive space, the designer maximally consolidated the public activity areas, using the ground floor as the living area and moving the living room to the basement (negative one floor), allocating more space to the dining room and kitchen.

The designer left the staircase on the living room balcony, shortening the circulation while ensuring the comfort of the gathering area. Natural light was introduced to the gathering area, and the staircase was designed with an open structure, allowing the negative one floor's public areas to receive a larger area of natural light.

The additional bedroom area on the ground floor was transformed into an activity area for family members, turning the ground floor into a transitional space between the social and living areas of the entire house. This increased vertical interaction between the upper and lower levels while adding an element of fun to the space.