EBBA Director Benni Allan has transformed his own apartment into a living laboratory, a project dubbed “Living with Timber”. The renovation is an essay in the appreciation and enjoyment of working and living with timber , and simultaneously serves as a new home and a space to test design solutions that might otherwise be discarded in standard projects. The resulting apartment is a unique, dynamic space imagined as a live-come-showspace , intended to evolve around constantly changing objects , much like a gallery-like setting.
The apartment’s experimental quality is immediately evident in the widespread use of douglas fir across the walls, floors and joinery. The careful installation, testing, and finishing of these materials were carried out to investigate how best to use cost-effective materials to ensure their longevity. This focus on material consciousness is central to EBBA‘s philosophy.
In a nod to sustainability and re-use , the design cleverly incorporates re-claimed elements. For instance, the beautiful mahogany parquet flooring was salvaged from a previous EBBA mews project , preventing it from being discarded. This blending of inexpensive douglas fir with found materials showcases an inventive approach to design and architecture.
The main living area embraces an open-plan kitchen and living arrangement. The workings of the kitchen are deftly concealed behind large cupboards , which form a major piece of furniture. This unit also addresses a sharp angle in the original building , providing ample storage and maintaining the calmness created by the combination of raw plaster surfaces and warm timber.
The main bedroom connects to the kitchen via a full-height sliding door , allowing borrowed light to penetrate and fill the space. Adding to the home’s multi-functional and creative character is a dedicated study connected from the corridor. This space is designed to double as a place to make and is often filled with discarded materials that are soon to become new experiments.
The project also provided an opportunity for Benni Allan to delve into his interest in furniture and music. A multi-layered stacked coffee table takes center stage in the living room and is part of a new furniture collection the studio is developing. A key tech addition that truly completes the home is a one-of-a-kind speaker , also crafted from Douglas fir and designed in collaboration with Friendly Pressure and Our Department. The apartment serves as a powerful demonstration of EBBA’s commitment to high-quality, elegant, and functional craftsmanship.