Letting light into dark spaces is one of the main attractions of designing with glass, but it can also introduce creativity and beauty
FEATURE ARABELLA YOUENS
BRICK IN THE WALL
Glass bricks are often associated with the modernist movement of the 1930s, especially South Beach in Miami, and the industrialist trend of the 1980s. Yet today, look around and there’s a resurgence in their use. They are also making their way back into domestic spaces as demonstrated in this dining room by Child Studio, which features library cabinets with Rosso Levanto marble cladding. This room is separated from the neighbouring kitchen by a glass brick partition. ‘This allows light to filter through the geometric pattern,’ say the co-founders Alexy Kos and Che Huang. ‘The combination of dark mahogany, patterned marble and green upholstery feels so chic, yet warm and unpretentious.’
ROOM WITHIN A ROOM
The challenge of open-plan kitchens is that, even with the best extractor fans, it’s not always possible to keep cooking aromas from escaping into the rest of the space. The solution is having glass walls. It allows all the action in the kitchen to be visible and the room remains firmly connected to the rest of the house rather than being shut away. This is the approach interior designer Katharine Pooley took when redesigning this chalet in Switzerland. She’s paired this double-height glazed room with natural materials such as stone and timber. ‘It’s a layered contemporary feel that showcases richly textured, contrasting finishes that fits perfectly with the open-plan layout,’ says Katharine.
CLOSING TIME
Glass pocket doors are an elegant solution for rooms that lead off other rooms – they negate the need for more floor space left free for door openings. This dining area leading to a reading room is from a London project by Maddux Creative. The doors are original to the 1920s-era building. While the doors create a divide between the spaces, the decorators have used paint to also help with the transition. The walls feature a colour-block effect, adding a subtle contemporary twist to the original mouldings – a technique that almost looks like shadows rather than changes in paint colour, notes architect and co-founder Scott Maddux. ‘Colour experimentation continued in the adjoining library with three different shades of green to highlight the mouldings,’ he adds.
AROUND THE CORNER
It’s tempting to make the most of internal floor space when extending a property into the garden, but consider whether there might be an opportunity to carve out a feature instead of opting for a straight wall finish. Architectural glazing is the
