£25K in Adaptable Millwork Gives a Tiny London Flat “Rooms Within a Room”

Houses We Love: Every day we feature a remarkable space submitted by our community of architects, designers, builders, and homeowners. Have one to share? Post it here.

Project Details:

Location: London, United Kingdom

Architect: SUPRBLK Studio / @suprblk

Footprint: 312 square feet

Builder: ESquared

Photographer: Nicholas Worley / @nicholasworley_

From the Architect: "The Green Machine was born out of the need to rethink how to live in a compact studio flat in East London by providing adaptable spaces to suit many different uses such as sleeping, eating, working, entertaining, lounging, etc. Our client, a young professional, was struggling to make the tiny studio flat work for all her needs, especially as these needs expanded to include working from home during the pandemic. The design strategy focused the tight £25,000 budget on a grouping of millwork elements resulting in a bold intervention in one 97-square-foot zone to create multiple ‘rooms within a room.’"

"The Green Machine showcases that impactful sustainable design can happen at any scale and with any budget. Using color and paint to repurpose and refinish rather than remove and replace as well as thoughtfully selecting material for the millwork elements resulted in both a beautiful and environmentally responsible solution to our client’s brief. The challenge was to find something for the millwork zone of intervention that would be durable and robust, bold and fun, but equally easy to manipulate and eco-friendly. Valchromat fit the bill perfectly. As an FCS-certified nontoxic MDF wood, it is not only moisture-resistant and flame-retardant but is manufactured from recycled pine wood and mill waste. The bold colors are created with organic dyes and unlike most man-made boards, Valchromat can be recycled at the end of its lifespan.

"The Green Machine is a project which demonstrates that with carefully orchestrated programming, thoughtful materiality, and joyful detailing, architecture can truly be a ‘machine’ for contemporary living. By collaborating closely with local tradespeople, designing flexible and adaptable zones to suit not only specific needs but future desires as well, with ample storage, this colorful insertion transformed the underutilized space in the flat, cleverly rethinking how we live."