the design of this home in beijing is focused on dog's comfort, by atelier about architecture

chinese atelier about architecture looks at the interior design from a completely new angle — the studio’s work in a beijing house is concentrated around the needs of the client’s dog. the pet’s health condition and limited visual abilities have formed the architects’ use of color and materials and required spaces developed specially for the host’s best friend.

all images © sun faiting

due to chromosomal differences, dogs are less capable to identify colors than humans. this fact has led atelier about architecture to a certain selection of hues — the spaces on the first and second floors, which are designed for the owner alone, are dark grey, light grey, and white, while functional spaces for the dog are more colorful. two sets of colors are spread in the house: calm colors including lake blue, dark gray, navy blue and light gray are playing with vibrant colors, such us roseate, goose yellow and sky blue. these hues contrast and complement each other to narrate the depth, distance, and motions of the spaces.

the dog house has two dog-only bathrooms: the core area is a barrier-free shower space for the dog with two-way ramps and separated wet area. at the other end of the shower, there is an operation floor for routine physical exams and medical care of the dog. the heights of the shower space and operation floor are determined after long-term observation on the living habits of the owner and the dog. the small bathroom next to the shower room uses a lot of noise-reducing fabrics, newly developed by danish textile brand kvadrat, which are to reduce the barking noise during the bathing.

the dog is extremely sensitive to the touch of materials due to the congenital disease on its joint — special materials are used in the design to reduce the damage to it caused by the friction with materials, for example, soft flooring and medical-grade waterproof coating are applied on the stairs and ramps in both exterior and interior spaces.

project info:

program: residence

scale: 400 sqm

completed: 2018

location: beijing, china

design company: atelier about architecture

design team: wang ni, zhang dawei, shou daguang

lighting design: zhang dawei, wang lei

photography: sun haiting

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: maria erman | designboom