Visuospatial Fluidity and Continuity
Fig.1. Dollis Hill Avenue, London, England [2019]. Architecture: Thomas McBrien Architects. Photographer: Ståle Eriksen. In the words of the creators: 'Large full-height sliding doors open out onto a south facing terrace with easy access to the garden beyond. The external terrace, acting as a plinth, helps to ground the new extension into the slope.'
Introduction
'Door symbolises transition, metamorphosis. It is a boundary between sacred and profane, mysterious and familiar, light and dark, life and death… It is an allegory of beginning, opening, exit that leads from one state of being to the next.’1
- Nato Giorgadze
Definition
A door-window is a floor-to-lintel opening – hole or void created in solid masonry wall construction to satisfy our need for light and shadow; fresh air; a means of ‘seeing in’ as well as ‘seeing out’; and movement or transition from inside to outside – complemented by a minimalist reinterpretation of the timeless and elegant ‘French door’: window which starts at floor level and can also be used as a door.2
A door-window is a floor-to-lintel opening – hole or void created in solid masonry wall construction to satisfy our need for light and shadow; fresh air; a means of ‘seeing in’ as well as ‘seeing out’; and movement or transition from inside to outside – complemented by a minimalist reinterpretation of the timeless and elegant ‘French door’: window which starts at floor level and can also be used as a door.2
Philosophy
It is important that it is easy to go in and out of dwellings. If the passage between is difficult – if it is necessary, for example, to be forced to use a route, other than the shortest one, when the destination is in the line of sight3 – the number of day-to-day ‘coming and going’ activities, recreational activities, and simple social activities from which a deeper, more meaningful communal life can develop - more or less cease; because it is simply too tiring and too bothersome to carry furniture,4 items and objects through a sequence of built-in obstacles and detours.5 Furthermore, the transition between the public and the private is too often and too quickly resolved by nothing more than a solid entrance door or ‘movable barrier’ with just small fanlights [half circle windows at the top of the door] or sidelights [vertical windows at the side of the door].6 With little visual stimulus and no visible goal,7 the ‘boring’ threshold can be seen as the second obvious reason why there is no life between buildings. Only ‘dead space’ A lot of it!8
It is important that it is easy to go in and out of dwellings. If the passage between is difficult – if it is necessary, for example, to be forced to use a route, other than the shortest one, when the destination is in the line of sight3 – the number of day-to-day ‘coming and going’ activities, recreational activities, and simple social activities from which a deeper, more meaningful communal life can develop - more or less cease; because it is simply too tiring and too bothersome to carry furniture,4 items and objects through a sequence of built-in obstacles and detours.5 Furthermore, the transition between the public and the private is too often and too quickly resolved by nothing more than a solid entrance door or ‘movable barrier’ with just small fanlights [half circle windows at the top of the door] or sidelights [vertical windows at the side of the door].6 With little visual stimulus and no visible goal,7 the ‘boring’ threshold can be seen as the second obvious reason why there is no life between buildings. Only ‘dead space’ A lot of it!8
House-Garden Relationship
For that reason, the threshold – the meeting point between the inside and outside that creates the relationship between public and private space - must become a key part of an indoor-outdoor concept that unites personal living space with the garden, and brings the sights of nature into the living-dining-working spaces [the ‘place of being’].9 This may imply, for example, that there should be thresholds [access openings/passages] and single leaf ‘French doors’; placed centrally, along the exterior walls facing the semiprivate front yard with a view of the street, and the private backyard.
For that reason, the threshold – the meeting point between the inside and outside that creates the relationship between public and private space - must become a key part of an indoor-outdoor concept that unites personal living space with the garden, and brings the sights of nature into the living-dining-working spaces [the ‘place of being’].9 This may imply, for example, that there should be thresholds [access openings/passages] and single leaf ‘French doors’; placed centrally, along the exterior walls facing the semiprivate front yard with a view of the street, and the private backyard.
Structure; Fabric
A single leaf ‘French door’ is based on the principles of the narrow but deep Berlin-style inward-opening wooden window type:10 door frame,11 and sash frame [hinged door leaf within a frame],12 around a glazed panel. The 'aperture area' - the size of the clear glazed area – is around 75-80% of the whole opening; and does not include a central mullion13 – so that nothing may interrupt the light that penetrates the room, or the views looking onto outside space. Glazing comes in the form of double or triple, toughened or laminated, safety glass which has been hardened; and when broken, either shatters into small cubes, or the glass shards remain bonded in place.14 The use of large aperture areas, however, also impinges on a user's privacy: something which must also be taken into account.15 That being so, glass may be sandblasted, or fitted with simple white fabric; thus permitting light to pass through but diffusing it so that persons, objects, etc., on the opposite side are not clearly visible.16 To heighten the sense of enclosure and seclusion: tall [eye-level standing height], lightly foliaged, and evergreen bushes, and a large number of wood slats, are expressed in a variety of filters that screen the openness of the house. Seen from within, it is a 'living picture wall,' with the refreshing greens of [nature] playing with sunlight and wind on bright open days.17
A single leaf ‘French door’ is based on the principles of the narrow but deep Berlin-style inward-opening wooden window type:10 door frame,11 and sash frame [hinged door leaf within a frame],12 around a glazed panel. The 'aperture area' - the size of the clear glazed area – is around 75-80% of the whole opening; and does not include a central mullion13 – so that nothing may interrupt the light that penetrates the room, or the views looking onto outside space. Glazing comes in the form of double or triple, toughened or laminated, safety glass which has been hardened; and when broken, either shatters into small cubes, or the glass shards remain bonded in place.14 The use of large aperture areas, however, also impinges on a user's privacy: something which must also be taken into account.15 That being so, glass may be sandblasted, or fitted with simple white fabric; thus permitting light to pass through but diffusing it so that persons, objects, etc., on the opposite side are not clearly visible.16 To heighten the sense of enclosure and seclusion: tall [eye-level standing height], lightly foliaged, and evergreen bushes, and a large number of wood slats, are expressed in a variety of filters that screen the openness of the house. Seen from within, it is a 'living picture wall,' with the refreshing greens of [nature] playing with sunlight and wind on bright open days.17
Construction
First, by the use of creative demolition or ‘surgery’, the specialists will typically strip away, remove, clarify, and undo the parapet[s] at the foot of an existing ‘picture window’. Without any parapet to block, a ‘picture window’ gives way to a door-window’.18 Second, all ‘French doors’ are erected on site by a team of highly skilled carpenters. Finally, new premium performance insulated plasterboard is mechanically fixed to timber battens on the existing inner walls; and cleverly disguised by an elegantly decorated wall of square-edge oak mouldings, a precise 12mm shadow gap, and beautifully textured natural clay plaster.
First, by the use of creative demolition or ‘surgery’, the specialists will typically strip away, remove, clarify, and undo the parapet[s] at the foot of an existing ‘picture window’. Without any parapet to block, a ‘picture window’ gives way to a door-window’.18 Second, all ‘French doors’ are erected on site by a team of highly skilled carpenters. Finally, new premium performance insulated plasterboard is mechanically fixed to timber battens on the existing inner walls; and cleverly disguised by an elegantly decorated wall of square-edge oak mouldings, a precise 12mm shadow gap, and beautifully textured natural clay plaster.
Bibliography & Endnotes
1. Nato Giorgadze [2008]. The Greater Reality Behind Doors, pp. 21.
1. Nato Giorgadze [2008]. The Greater Reality Behind Doors, pp. 21.
2. Anette Hochberg; Jan-Henrik Hafke; Joachim Raab [2009]. Open | Close: Windows, Doors, Gates, Loggias, Filter. Construction and Form, pp. 40.
3. ‘A sight line is an unobstructed line of sight [or view] extending from a viewer to some object or landscape in the distance;’ Designing Buildings [2020]. Sight Line.
4. Jan Gehl [2011]. Life Between Buildings: Using Public Spaces, pp. 113, 121 & 149.
5. 'Floor, wall, and ceiling planes serve to define and isolate a portion of space. Of these, the wall plane, being perpendicular to our normal line of sight, has the greatest effect as a spatial boundary. It limits our visual field and serves as a barrier to our movement;’ Francis D.K. Ching; Corky Binggeli [2012, Third Ed.]. Interior Design Illustrated, pp. 28.
6. The Sleep of Rigour [2013]. Threshold: Link and Separator; Nato Giorgadze [2008], pp. 22.
5. 'Floor, wall, and ceiling planes serve to define and isolate a portion of space. Of these, the wall plane, being perpendicular to our normal line of sight, has the greatest effect as a spatial boundary. It limits our visual field and serves as a barrier to our movement;’ Francis D.K. Ching; Corky Binggeli [2012, Third Ed.]. Interior Design Illustrated, pp. 28.
6. The Sleep of Rigour [2013]. Threshold: Link and Separator; Nato Giorgadze [2008], pp. 22.
7. Gunter Nitschke [2015]. Space Tunnels: Rites of Passage to Places of Stillness. Kyoto Journal/Hidden Japan.
8. Darryl Wee [2013]. Tetsuya Umeda on Osorezan and Dead Space. Blouin Art Info. Quoted in: Nainoa D. J. Cravalho [2015]. Revitalisation of Dead Space Through The Use of Interactive Interventions, pp. 4.
9. Anette Hochberg; Jan-Henrik Hafke; Joachim Raab [2009]. Open | Close: Windows, Doors, Gates, Loggias, Filter. pp. 11 & 30; Heinrich Engel [1964]. The Japanese House: A Tradition for Contemporary Architecture, pp. 244.
10. ‘…mainly softwoods such as pine or spruce, but also resistant hardwoods, such as oak;’ Anette Hochberg; Jan-Henrik Hafke; Joachim Raab [2009], pp. 68 & 72.
11. ‘Window frame: structure around the outside of a window fixed to the masonry. Depending on the wall rebate [anywhere within the thickness of the wall construction [pp. 38], the window may be described as opening outwards, inwards or installed without a rebate;’ Ibid, pp. 55.
12. ‘Sash frame: the sash frame consists of top and bottom rails and side styles. It fits against the rebates of the frame. The correct rebate pressure ensures that the joint between them is sealed;’ Ibid.
13. ‘A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors;’ Wikipedia [2024]. Mullion.
14. Anette Hochberg; Jan-Henrik Hafke; Joachim Raab [2009], pp. 61.
15. Ibid, pp. 18.
16. Graeme Brooker; Sally Stone [2004]. Re-readings: Interior Architecture and the Design Principles of Remodelling Existing Buildings, pp. 215; Quim Rosell [2005]. Minimalist Interiors, pp. 18; Dictionary.com [2024]. Translucent.
17. Botond Bognar; Kengo Kuma [2005]. Kengo Kuma: Selected Works. Filtered Space, pp. 31-33; Heinrich Engel [1964], pp. 258.
18. Graeme Brooker; Sally Stone [2004], pp. 81; Anette Hochberg; Jan-Henrik Hafke; Joachim Raab [2009], pp. 17.
__________________________________________
Matte Painting
Note 1
Click on any image to open the Lightbox gallery and display all images in fullscreen mode as well as switch between them horizontally.
__________________________________________
Strategy and Tactics
Semiprivate Front Yard
Fig.1 Dead Space
Fig.2 Intervention
Fig.3 Prospect
Fig.4 Refuge
_________________________________________
Orthographic Impressions
Whole-House
Fig.1 Ground floor plan incl. enfilade 1.40
Fig.2. Ground floor plan @ front and rear door-window/thresholds 1.20
Fig.3. Longitudinal elevation @ street/pedestrian path/semiprivate front yard 1.32
Fig.4. Longitudinal section aa @ semiprivate front yard with engawa verandah and tsubo-niwa garden 1.32
Fig.5. Longitudinal section cc and ground floor plan @ front door-window/threshold 1.20
Fig.6. Longitudinal elevation @ rear passage/private backyard 1.32
Fig.7. Longitudinal section dd @ private backyard with sala pavilion and tsubo-niwa garden 1.32
Fig.8. Longitudinal section ee @ private backyard 1.32
Fig.9. Longitudinal section ff and ground floor plan @ back threshold 1.20
Fig.10. Cross-section hh @ semiprivate front yard 1.12
Fig.11. Cross-section hh @ private backyard 1.12
Isometric Cross-Sections
Fig.1. Section hh @ existing front picture window 1.16
Fig.2. Section hh @ front porte-fenetres 1.16
Fig.3. Section hh @ front porte-fenetres/lintel junction 1.2
Fig.4. Section hh @ front porte-fenetres/threshold junction 1.2
Fig.5. Section hh @ back porte-fenetres 1.20
Fig.6. Section hh @ back porte-fenetres/threshold junction 1.4
Fig.7. Section ii @ front porte-fenetres 1.8
Fig.8. Section ii @ front porte-fenetres, box frame/thermal insulation junction 1.2
Internal Decorative Finishes
Above. Natural Clay Plaster [Grey, Olive & Brown]. Brand: Clayworks.
Construction or Working Drawings
Fig.1. Whole-house ground floor plan 1.40
Fig.2. Ground floor plan @ front and back thresholds 1.20
Fig.3. Ground floor plan @ back threshold 1.4
Fig.4. Ground floor plan @ front porte-fenetres/brick cavity wall junction 1.2
Fig.5. Longitudinal section aa @ semiprivate front yard 1.32
Fig.6. Longitudinal section bb @ semiprivate front yard 1.32
Fig.7. Longitudinal section cc @ front facade 1.32
Fig.8. Longitudinal section cc @ existing front picture window [incl. demolition works] 1.16
Fig.9. Longitudinal section cc and ground floor plan @ front porte-fenetres 1.16
Fig.10. Longitudinal section ee @ private backyard 1.32
Fig.11. Longitudinal section ff @ back facade 1.32
Fig.12. Longitudinal section ff @ back porte-fenetres 1.8
Fig.13. Longitudinal section ff @ back porte-fenetres 1.2
Fig.14. Cross-section hh @ front porte-fenetres 1.12
Fig.15. Cross-section hh @ front lintel/threshold junctions 1.2
Fig.16. Cross-section hh @ back porte-fenetres 1.12
Fig.17. Cross-section hh @ back porte-fenetres 1.6
Fig.18. Cross-section hh @ back porte-fenetres 1.2
Specification
Intervention
Soft strip
Removal of Window Components, External Cill, Architectural Moulding incl. Architraves, Cills and Skirting, Furniture, Floor Coverings, Pipework, Radiators.
'Cut-and-carve'
455x1330mm Wet Cutting of Brick/Brick Cavity Wall
Masonry work
Façade Restoration [using masonry extracted and demolished]
Moisture and thermal protection
65x150mm Cast Stone Type 1 Cill, Cavity Insulation: 2mm White Non-Water Absorbing PVCu with 50ml Earthwool DriTherm Cavity Slab
Open | Close
Description
1330x2485mm Open-In French Door on Factory Hung on Black Nico 3D Adjustable Hinges with Espagnolette Locking, Latch and Mortice Dead Lock
Frame profile
30x160x2500mm Planed All Round Green Oak
Sash profile
60x144mm Engineered European Redwood Top & Bottom Stile, 60x100mm Engineered European Redwood Lock & Side Stile
Glazing
4x16x4mm Clear Glass Double Glazing Unit with Low E Argon Fill.
Glazing bead
12x12mm Square Edge Engineered European Redwood
Cill
68x144mm Hardwood
Internal Wall Insulation [IWI]
Frame profile
25x50x4800mm Treated Softwood Timber Batten
Thermal laminate board
40mm Thermal Laminate, 9.5mm Plasterboard
Plasterwork
12x12x3000mm Z Shadow Bead [AS5510], 12mm Lightweight Plaster, 2x1mm Clayworks Smooth & Tonal Finish
Woodwork
Box Frame: 30x140x2500mm Planed All Round Green Oak Door Reveal, 30x160x2500mm Planed All Round Green Oak Threshold
In-between Space 2024
Japanese-influenced indoor-outdoor timber architecture
+ small secluded visual gardens
+ small secluded visual gardens