The Lovely Cat House

This is an interior design project for a 25-year-preowned duplex apartment with a total living space of about 152 square meters and a 52-square-meter yard. The dweller includes two adults, 13 cats, and 3 dogs.
For the first step, the design team planned a 10-square-meter loft on the second floor of the 3.6-meter-high building to provide more space for cats who need vertical movement. The mezzanine floor, which extends to the floor-to-ceiling windows, also allows cats to enjoy the sunlight and the view from the windows in good weather. Near the floor-to-ceiling windows is a 3-meter-high cat diving platform. The jumping platform is adjacent to the mezzanine floor, allowing cats to move freely. For the safety and cleanliness of the cats, the stairs and handrails are made of U-shaped glass to prevent the pets from falling from high places while playing and running. On the attic floor, the team inserted round glass tiles to create more diverse and interesting viewpoints so that the curious cats could observe the changes in their surroundings through different angles and mediums, adding to the fun of interaction.
The door of the main space is located on the second floor. After entering through the main door, there is a separate foyer and shoe closet, and it also stores large household items. The separate foyer also has a dehumidification system to dry the storage items. To go inside, one must first pass through the inner entrance door, which is normally closed for the safety of cats so that they do not rush out of the door when people enter or leave.
On the second floor is a living space with a large center island as the core, which functions as a dining and office space for two people and as a division of the cat-eating area during cat feeding. We deliberately allow the cats to eat at two different heights, on the table and floor, to spread out the number of cats. The younger, stronger, and more powerful cats will mostly leap onto the center island table, while the weaker cats naturally gather underneath the island table to eat in seclusion.
The first floor is the main multi-media area, and the main material used in this area is a waterproof, jointless paint for ease of cleaning and maintenance. The sofa seats are made of cement blocks, and the surface is painted with a coating. The cushions can be stored in the storage room behind the TV wall when not in use. The area behind the sofa is planned to be a separate space for dogs, as dogs and cats need to be separated when people are not at home. In addition, the wall configuration of this area allows the dog to see both the interior and the outdoor patio. Dogs can also enjoy sunbathing or move freely from the doggy door to the patio in good weather.
For the building materials, the designers consider the fur condition of the cats and dogs and their vomiting and excretion of fur. In addition, one of the key factors was that one of the cats hadn’t been well-trained for pottery. Using materials that could be repeatedly cleaned and did not leave a residual odor was essential to maintaining a good quality space.