SYLVAN LINING

A modest apartment gets in tune with nature, via the generous use of timber

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How do you want to live in a space, and what do you imagine doing in it? Benni Allan, director of architecture and design practice EBBA, finds the answers to these questions more instructive than what a client has pinned to a moodboard. “If you have a lot of references to things you like visually, it doesn’t allow much flexibility through the creative process,” says the architect.

Benni appreciates feeling calm and being in nature, so he cloaked the floor, joinery and some of the walls in his flat in timber, primarily douglas fir. “I spent a lot of time in forests growing up, so I think subconsciously that’s something I've always come back to,” he says. The architect also raised the door frames to full height to create the illusion of space and maximise natural light.