Richard Librach Architect works together with a music producer, jazz musician, and teenage daughter as the client to convert an existing factory into their new house. Queen East Trio is designed by retaining the existing structure timber structure and the current industrial facade as the client’s architectural ambition.
Design
This awesome project begins by entering a dark, cold, and unfriendly industrial space like entering an abandoned historical excavation site. There is an existing turn of the century heavy timber structure and floor system that makes the architect excited to incorporate some of the old counter-weighted industrial sliding doors. The vision for this project is designing a house for two musicians that need a studio and creative space, and to create a place that felt like “home” for their daughter.
Structure
The architect uses a strategy to live with the current industrial facade and the existing timber structure in a comfortable residential setting. Natural light can fill the existing spaces by removing the piece of the building at the rear. The focal point is the landscaped courtyard and it also becomes a buffer for a practice studio.
This jam space is now light-filled and it can be accessed easily by band members without passing through the house. There is a separate entry point for a production/recording studio that retained at the front of the main house while the acoustical isolation can solve the more technical requirements of privacy.
Materials
This house becomes more than a house with the natural light that comes into the house through large, warm, wood-clad windows and sleek sky lighting. Passive cooling in the summer months is provided by the internal courtyard while the existing structural elements express a skeleton.
This house also has an exposed radiant concrete floor that provides a comprehensive background where musical instruments, bright-colored gypsum board surfaces, simple furnishings, and timber elements live in a harmony. This house can entertain the family in comfort with private outdoor spaces where they can be creative and socialize.
Queen East Trio Gallery
Photography: Richard Librach Architect