hidden house doors closed

Too often, doors are more of an afterthought for designers, even though they are the first piece of a home we are confronted with, and the last impression when we leave.

hidden house steel doors open

Dubbed Hidden House by Teatum+Teatum (images by Lyndon Douglas), there is a stark austerity to this structure, making the decorative perforations in the butterfly-winged pair of front doors all the more apparent as a decorative touch.

Limited windows and a light well bring in illumination from above and behind, but to maintain privacy the side openings, front and back, are dotted with small openings in larger steel panels.

The structure itself acts as neutral infill between two older buildings, deferential and dark while also comfortably modern.

perforated steel gates
steel doors from inside

“Using the left over spaces of the city, Hidden House is formed between existing buildings. The house makes an opportunity of its dislocation from the street. It turns its back to the city and responds to its location by creating an architecture that is internal and intimate.”

hidden house by teatum and teatum

“The house is organised over two levels and structured around a seven metre high internal light well. Living spaces interface across the central light well, allowing bedrooms and living areas to overlap and connect. This interface between spaces seeks the opportunity for programmes to infect one another. The connection to the exterior is formed through high level skylights that bring daylight into the bedrooms and the central light well. By removing external views the sense of interior is reinforced, creating intimacy and a focus on light and materiality.”

“The rear elevation, a black shining surface, embedded with silica carbide particles acts like a mask in that it engages the viewer without expressing or revealing the space behind. The steel butterfly doors are laser cut to reflect the pattern of rain on a cold window. Internally, the laser cut pattern allows shards of light to extend into the hidden spaces of the ground floor interior. Hidden House provides a way for the city to create more housing on existing sites providing unique spaces at low cost. “