Spread across the top two floors and roof terrace of a five-story townhouse on the north side of Beijing, China, House P was designed by MDDM Studio for a young family. On the first floor, the design aimed to open the entire floor to a big living space. The existing staircase had been demolished, partition walls had been removed and several structural walls had been perforated to improve the movement between different functional areas. The space is zoned by built-in furniture, creating rooms without the need of solid partition or doors.
The result is a continuous space flow between living room, entrance, dining room, kitchen and playroom. To further lighten the space the new staircase, as well as the landing on the second floor, are made in perforated white steel panels. The permeable and bright surface of the staircase let the natural light from the west double-height windows to penetrate into the house. During the late afternoon, the play of light and shadow of the stairs creates a special atmosphere inside the apartment.
The color palette of the house reflects the energy of the young family living there. The floor and the ceiling are two parallel, horizontal surfaces in cement in between which different colorful elements are inset: the yellow walls give an energetic environment to the house. The kitchen island, the playroom and the platform at the base of the staircase in colorful terrazzo play with the pure white built-in furniture and few elements in turquoise blue echoes the color sparkles of the terrazzo.
On the second floor, the layout accommodates a master bedroom, two bedrooms, a laundry area, and two bathrooms. A big terrace is connected to the corridor and to the master bedroom.
The master bedroom has a large wooden niche for the bed leaving a spacy area in front of the large windows. The bathrooms are defined by colorful terrazzo floors and white cabinets. On the third floor of the house, a small studio is placed at the end of the staircase near the entrance of the large rooftop terrace.
