PETS PLAYGROUND
寵物遊園
453 sq.ft I Yuen Long, HK I 2019
The Pets Playground Between Two Generations
遊走於青銀兩代的寵物樂園
The young couple treat their pets like family members. The pets have their own personality and need to have their own space. The owners also choose to live with the mother so as to take care of each other. They are eager for a new living space which could give the couple, mother and pets a partly private and partly communal space. Sim-Plex then created a flexible layout for the young couple ,Ken and Teri, not only the pets could have their own space of activities, but also could fullfill the different living requirements of the two generations of people.
飼養寵物後，年輕屋主倆便待他們猶如家人般，毛孩們各有個性，又需要有其獨立空間；屋主亦重視親情，同時選擇與媽媽共住，以便相互照顧，他們渴望新居的空間佈局可作彈性處理，賦予屋主、媽媽及毛孩們也有其獨立或共融的空間。Sim-Plex於是為年輕屋主Ken和Teri打造一個不僅寵物擁有其活動空間，亦照顧到青銀兩代不同生活要求的新居。
The Circulation of Parrot, Cat and Three People
Ken and Teri raise a parrot and the mother raise a cat. The parrot needs to live in a large cage and preferably could get the sunshine. In terms of the layout, the master bedroom is connected to the living room, while the mother's bedroom is connected to the dining room. After consultations with the owner, Sim-Plex decided to place the parrot cage on the low cabinet in front of the large window of the living room, which is closer to the master bedroom. The middle section of the cabinet is larger at top, which is more fit to the parrot cage; setting in middle of the window, it is because of the direction to the west, so that the sun could be captured in the parrot cage in the afternoon; the parrot sometimes would come out from the cage, so the top light trough of the whole house could not be too deep, to prevent the parrot to foul on it. The three fritted glass sliding door could also be closed when the parrot is out to prevent direct contact between the parrot and the cat; the wood platform of the living room also helps reduce the chance of the cat from walking towards the parrot's area.
鸚鵡、貓與仨人的共居動線
Ken和Teri飼養鸚鵡，而媽媽則養貓。鸚鵡需住在頗大的籠子入面，以可曬日光為佳，偶爾需要放養。佈局上主人房連接客廳，而媽房則連接飯廳。Sim-Plex經與屋主多次協商後，決定將鸚鵡籠置於客廳大窗前矮櫃上，較貼近主人房；而櫃身中段比較凸出，是更貼合鸚鵡籠的呎吋；籠設於窗中，是配合向西座向，使陽光可在下午時份照在鸚鵡籠上；為配合鸚鵡放養，全屋高位燈槽不可太深，避免鸚鵡在高位便溺，難以清理； 而客廳三道玻璃屏風門亦可在放養時合上，以防鸚鵡與貓兒直接接觸；客廳的地台亦助減少貓兒走向鸚鵡區域的機會。
The cat has been lived with the mother for many years. Although the house is not big and there are three people living in it, the mother also wants a space where the cat could move around. Sim-Plex then designs the dining table to be integrated into the dining room cabinet, most of the time, it is hided to create more space for the cats; there is a cat toilet next to the entrance, and it is also a seat for changing shoes before going out; the central part of dining room cabinets is a void with cat round holes and walkways; mother bedroom's wardrobe is integrated with a cat house, the cat could also come from the bed front low cabinet, through the cat walkway, jump to the top.
貓兒跟隨媽媽多年，有著深厚的情感，雖然房子不大，又有仨人居住，但媽媽亦想貓兒有空曠的空間可以走動。Sim-Plex於是將平日頗佔位置的餐枱設計至可融入於飯廳大櫃內，大多時收起以營造更多活動空間給貓兒；入口旁設有貓厠，平時亦是出門前換鞋的椅子；飯廳大櫃中空位有貓圓洞及走道，供貓兒走動；媽房衣櫃設有貓屋，貓兒亦可從床前矮櫃，沿吊櫃貓走道至頂部。
The Privacy and Communion of the Young and Old Generations
In Hong Kong, the children of many families have left their home after growing up. The elders left behind are inevitably lonely. The causes are also related to the increasing emphasis on privacy and freedom of the younger generation. After receiving this project, Sim-Plex hopes that the flexibility of the layout will enable the homeowners and their mothers to have private and communal living spaces which would stop creating the same problem.
The three fritted glass sliding doors are placed in the middle of the dining room, cleverly becoming the separation of the zone of master bedroom and living room, and the zone of mother bedroom and dining room. When the couple needs privacy or the parrot comes out, they can close the sliding doors; during dining or family gathering, the sliding doors could be opened to form a large space. In the material selection, the master room and the living room area are decorated with light maple wood and grey color, while the mother room and the dining room are mainly white oak color, the bright color solves the problem that the dining room is far away from the window and the light is not quite sufficient. Although there is difference of materials in the two districts, there is also sense of harmony to ensure the two zones could also be treated as one space.
青銀兩代的私密與共融
香港不少家庭子女成長後便離巢自居，留下的銀髮長者們難免倍感寂寞，而其中成因亦與年青一代愈來愈注重私隱及自由有關。對此問題Sim-Plex亦甚為關注，接下此項目後，便希望透過佈局運用的彈性使屋主倆與媽媽擁有獨立或共融的居住空間，避免繼續衍生社會問題。
三道玻璃屏風門置於客飯廳中間，巧妙地成為主人房與客廳，媽房與飯廳的分水嶺。屋主需要私隱時或放養鸚鵡時，可合上屏風門；用餐或家庭聚會時可收起屏風門，形成流通大空間。在物料選用上，主人房及客廳區域是用淺楓木色搭配灰色，而媽房連飯廳則以白橡木色為主，以明亮的材質彌補飯廳離窗户較遠，光線不足的問題。兩區雖然用料上有差異，但亦不失和諧感，以確保兩空間打通使用時的整體性。
A Balance Between Storage and Safety
Ken and Teri hope to have a large storage space. Sim-Plex proposed a wood platform layout, but after considering the elderly, the landing of the platform is inconvenient for her, and so finally only sets the platform in the living room, and the mother could easily come from her room to the dining room, bathroom and kitchen. This design takes care of the safety of elderly and also makes it more difficult for the cats to enter the parrot area; In the low cabinet at the bottom of big window in the living room, four movable chairs are placed below, and could be used together when the dining table is opened; the kitchen and bathroom doors are all topped with a house shape, which is more suitable for the theme of pets. The kitchen door is also embedded with fritted glass so that the inner can be observed when cooking. All wooden furniture are make of ecological melamine faced board to avoid the cat scratching, and reduces the amount of formaldehyde which creates damage to human and pets.
收納與安全性的平衡點
Ken和Teri希望擁有較大的收納空間，Sim-Plex於是提出地台方案，但考慮到媽媽年紀稍大，地台的上落對她造成不便，於是只設地台於客廳範圍，媽媽從其房到飯廳、浴室及廚房也是平地，此舉照顧了長者的安全性之餘，亦令貓兒較難於進入鸚鵡的區域；客廳大窗底的矮櫃除了上面放置鸚鵡籠外，下面亦放置四張活動坐椅，飯廳枱面打開用餐時可一起配合使用；廚房及浴室的門均用上屋形頂部，此造型更貼合寵物主題，而廚房門亦加上壓紋條子玻璃，以便可觀察內裹情況。所有木制傢俬均使用防花生態板為飾面，以避免貓兒刮破，而生態板的甲醛含量比木皮等低，減少對人體及寵物造成的傷害。
"Pets Playground" not only is a project designed for pets, but also as a standpoint to achieve a balance between privacy and communion through spatial layout, bringing a new inspiration to the co-living social problems of young and elderly.
「寵物遊園」不僅以寵物為核心設計的家居，亦希望透過空間佈局，在私密及共融性上取得平衡，為青銀共居的社會問題帶來新面貌，作為一個具社會責任的小品住宅項目。
Special Thanks to Decor Artist- Liz Mo
特別鳴謝此項目的陳設藝術家－巫麗詩