The Slide is a 140 m2, two-bedroom apartment in London, located on the second and third floors of an old Edwardian building. It is a vertical amalgamation which joined two smaller independent flats.
The Slide is based on an unconventional premise. Vertical amalgamations usually have the public spaces on the bottom floor and the private spaces on the top floor. In ‘The Slide’, private and public spaces are mixed on both floors: the main bedroom hovers over the living room at the front, while the guest bedroom is tucked away under the dining and kitchen areas in the back.
The connection between the living room and the dining area is the slide: a steep, wide ramp that runs parallel to the linear staircase and connects the two floors. The slide cuts through the two stories to allow natural light and ventilation across the building. It also provides visual contact and a playful spatial flow between the public areas of the apartment. The main bedroom, which has a octagonal plan, enjoys views in opposite directions through both facades of the building.
The Slide is a carefully scaled architectural device in dialogue with its historical shell. Its strength lies in its ability to create both a sense of familiarity and surprise. It subverts the traditional organization of the program in order to be rooted in its experiential context. The result is a playful environment that enjoys an abundance of light, generosity of space and attention to detail.
