New life for the old villa

Article/Cheng Tian

Shanghai, a glamorous city, attracts designers all around the world to visit her, and Nathan is one of them. He has won his popularity in Shanghai’s designing field through his natural sense of touch towards colors as well as his acute master on space. His meticulous attitudes towards designing as well as diversification distilling on lifestyles attract people’s attention. As a result, there is no exception on the reconstruction of this old villa in suburb Shanghai. Whether it’s from an angle of a hobby or a belief, whether it’s from fashion or appreciation, what Nathan has built for the proprietor is not only a place to live, but what’s more important, it’s a new definition on lifestyle. An old house with a new surface, there’s the intersection with French modern style as well as European romantics, which is impressive.

Project: JOVINE VILLA

Area: 280 Square Meters

Main materials: Lamett floors, Dulux paints, natural marbles, customized moldings

Project Designed by: NOTHING STUDIO

Designer Director: Nathan Hou

Assistant Designer: Qian Yuyong

Comprehensive reconstruction  Just for customized privacy and comfort

Different from usual reconstruction, the reconstruction of this old villa is a complete “major movement”, which lasted for about a year. From building reconstruction, interior structure planning to garden design, Nathan has done a careful research on the owner’s hobby, life experience, living habit as well as the special elements in his occupation. He has worked accurately on the presentation of each corner to ensure the most expected result.

The building of Chinese style in 1990s has been reconstructed by adding layers of straight lines as the owner likes the simplicity from the European modern style. The entrance was designed as a hidden door with a picture frame, for the owner hopes it to be private and not to be found easily. Old and shabby windows were changed to the French window, because the owner hopes his house to be filled with sunshine. The walls were extended outward and the living room became larger by dismantling some of the walls as the owner enjoys spacious room. All these designs can be seen everywhere that you hope you have more time to enjoy them. You may take them for granted, however, behind all these simple designs is the considerate care from Nathan to the owner.

French Romance   Softening the boundary between home and working studio

As a residence connecting home and working studio, Nathan has input French Romanticism into the design to show the attraction of the space in a soft way, which is based on his understanding towards the art of lifestyle as well as years of designing experience. He took the high-end colors of black and white as the background, with shining colors decorating it. Soft gauze and warm fur make the space full of female characters, which is low-key but remains luxurious.

In terms of the living room in the first floor, walls have been dismantled, you can see different sceneries through windows and folded doors. A tree and a piece of scenery can be directly shown to the viewer. Through the designing method of being point to point, Nathan made the sceneries inside and outside the house integrated and they exist in a harmonious way. One exquisite designing aspect is also shown in the corner of the dressing room, where the half-dismantled wall integrates with the fireplace, which makes the space in a half-opening and half-closing way, as a result, this gives us a sense of intelligent. Three mirrors, which are customized for the owner, can reflect the light from different angles, very interesting.

As for the dining room, not only is it a conference room, but also a place for simple meals. Black iron arch combines with classical decoration of gypsum carved flowers, we can feel the French style through these graceful lines. When opening the door, what comes to the eyes is a well-designed space with simple but convenient design of western kitchen, exquisite metal pendant light, wall decorated with straight lines, chairs and tables with both ancient and modern styles, all these can reveal the artistic style of combining Chinese and western elements.

The stairs are the part which the owner feels most satisfied, for they connect different storeys and thus are quite important. Graceful lines, direct comparison between the colors of black and white make the stairs look like a graceful dancer who spins through the way up with elegance, people can feel the romantic French style coming to them. In consideration of better lighting and the height of the storey, the attic in the second floor was removed and thus the space in the top of the studio was open with great sight, just like a loft. The small balcony connects the working studio to the outside world, on its design, Nathan perfectly restored the owner’s beautiful memory towards the French hotel, namely the wind blows softly through the gauze from the exterior balcony to the interior house, as a result, that fresh and aesthetic feeling lingers in your head and stays there for a long time.

When talking about design, Nathan always highlights that he designs for the owner’s lifestyle. He stipulates that the beauty of designing should not be limited to a certain style or genre, but to bring the lifestyle of the residents to the design on the basis that they can satisfy their life needs. He starts his design from very little things in life, thus, it is endowed with new life.