Ideas Factory/ the foundry

29 on the go · 3 materials
nothing here is finished

The couple's pod at sunrise. A king-size bed in white and oatmeal linen with a woven throw stands against a freestanding oak headboard wall with reading lights. Walls and the low curved ceiling are lined in slatted oak, and a rectangular rooflight above the bed has a fabric blind half drawn. A wide window sits in a deep reveal of banded concrete in ochre, rust and brown, with a long cushioned window seat built into it, looking over mist on a meadow to a tree line and the rising sun. An oak floor, a jute rug and a log side table. Close to the brief. Off brief: the desk is a straight oak shelf on the back wall rather than a 2.2 m curved desk built into the curve.

← the floorNight Walk House/spaces·if / 065

Couple's pod

A round suite 6.3 m across at the quiet end of the corridor: lobby, bed facing the window, desk for two, dressing room and a bath under its own rooflight.

The card

spaces 03 of 06

Couple's pod

spaces 03 of 06idea_065

The notes

rendered

Sheet 03 · Couple's pod, plan · approx. 1:50 · 7.2 m outside · 6.3 m inside · ≈ 31 m² usable.

Couple's pod plan at 1:50: entry lobby with drinks station opening into the bedroom, bed facing a north-east window with a window seat, shared desk along the curve, separate walk-through dressing room leading to a bathroom with a bath under its own rooflight.

Key: timber floor, stone wet floor, oak panelling and joinery, banded concrete, rooflight.

pod schedule

Element What it is
Arrival Door from the night corridor, lantern niche outside, into a small lobby with a coat bench. Turn right and the bedroom and window open up ahead
Dressing Its own small room off the lobby, behind the headboard wall, lined with oak wardrobes. You walk through it to reach the bathroom
Drinks station In the lobby: oak counter with small sink and under-counter fridge, sharing the bathroom's plumbing wall
Bed King size, 1.8 × 2.0 m, facing the window. Rooflight above with blackout blind
Headboard wall Freestanding oak wall, about 2.1 m high, stops short of the vault so the ceiling reads as one dome
Window seat Set into the 450 mm wall reveal under a wide curved window
Desk 2.2 m curved oak desk built into the wall, two chairs
Bathroom Deep bath under its own rooflight, enclosed walk-in shower, wall-hung WC, double trough basin

notes

Why the headboard wall. A round room fights straight furniture. One straight wall through the middle solves it: bed and view on one side, storage and bathroom on the other, and the curve stays clear for the window, desk and shelves.

Quiet. Oak panelling sits on battens with acoustic backing, so the timber dome doesn't ring. The thick concrete shell blocks sound from outside and from the corridor.

Changed: entry lobby. You now arrive in a lobby, not the dressing room, so the last step of the walk to bed opens onto the bedroom and the view. The dressing room is a separate walk-through on the way to the bath. The wardrobes are a little smaller than before.

Tight spots. The shower and WC sit close to the curved wall. They fit, but this is the most cramped part of the plan and a real build would test it at full size.

Decided: concrete wet zone. Bathroom walls are sealed banded concrete; oak everywhere else in the pod.

Decided: bare window reveal. The reveal and seat stay as exposed banded concrete, softened with a cushion, so you feel the thickness of the wall you're sitting in.

the renders

The two plan renders were made from this sheet but put the bathroom down the west side, drop the lobby and drinks station, and lose the rooflight over the bath. There is no presentation plan of the pod.

The drawings

1 sheet
Couple's pod plan, sheet 03, approx. 1:50, 7.2 m outside and 6.3 m inside. You arrive from the night corridor at the bottom left, past a lantern niche, into a lobby with coats on the left and a drinks counter. A dashed arrow leads on into the bedroom. A straight oak headboard wall crosses the middle: on the far side, the bed under a rooflight faces the window seat on the north-east curve, with shelves to the west and a curved desk for two to the east. On the near side, the dressing room with wardrobes, and the bathroom with the bath under its own rooflight, basins, a shower and a WC.
01 · Couple's pod plan

The plates

3 · lift any one out
The couple's pod at sunrise. A king-size bed in white and oatmeal linen with a woven throw stands against a freestanding oak headboard wall with reading lights. Walls and the low curved ceiling are lined in slatted oak, and a rectangular rooflight above the bed has a fabric blind half drawn. A wide window sits in a deep reveal of banded concrete in ochre, rust and brown, with a long cushioned window seat built into it, looking over mist on a meadow to a tree line and the rising sun. An oak floor, a jute rug and a log side table. Close to the brief. Off brief: the desk is a straight oak shelf on the back wall rather than a 2.2 m curved desk built into the curve.
01 · The couple's pod at sunrise
Hand-drawn ink and watercolour plan of the couple's pod on textured paper, entered from the corridor at the bottom left. A straight oak headboard wall crosses the middle. Above it the king-size bed faces a long window seat on the curved north-east wall, with a curved desk and two chairs on the right and an armchair by the window. Below it a dressing room with hanging rails and a round pouf, and a long oak bench. Down the left side, a bathroom with a freestanding oval bath, a glass shower, a WC and four round basins. Off brief: the bathroom runs down the west side rather than sitting in the south-east quarter behind the headboard wall, so the shelves on the west wall are gone and you no longer walk through the dressing room to reach the bath. There is no lobby with a coat bench or drinks station, no rooflight over the bath, and the double trough basin has become four separate basins.
02 · Hand-drawn ink and watercolour plan of the couple's pod on textured paper
3D cutaway of the couple's pod from above, roof off, in warm late light. The corridor arrives at the bottom left. A straight oak headboard wall crosses the middle, with the king-size bed in white linen facing a long cushioned window seat on the curved wall, a curved desk with two chairs on the right and an armchair by the window. Behind the headboard wall, a dressing room with hanging rails and a round pouf, and a long oak bench. Down the left side, a bathroom with a freestanding bath by the glass, a glass shower, a WC and round basins. Off brief: the bathroom runs down the west side rather than sitting in the south-east quarter, so the west shelves are gone and you do not walk through the dressing room to the bath. There is no lobby with a coat bench or drinks station and no rooflight over the bath, and the basins are separate bowls rather than a double trough.
03 · 3D cutaway of the couple's pod from above