Habitat Atelier

Habitat Atelier is a minimalist townhouse located in Hangzhou, China, designed by Jijia Space. The project stands as testament to the power of material restraint, where travertine walls and custom millwork speak in hushed tones rather than declarative statements. This is not the polished marble of corporate lobbies, but stone that wears its geological history openly. The natural pores and striations that mark its surface echo the weathered faces of ancient Roman monuments, yet here they serve a different purpose entirely. Against these textured planes, the designer has orchestrated a careful dance between rough and refined, allowing the stone’s inherent character to anchor spaces that might otherwise drift toward the precious or overwrought.

In the dining area, convention gives way to invention. The fusion of dining table and bar counter represents more than functional efficiency – it embodies a fundamental shift in how we understand domestic ritual. This hybrid form speaks to contemporary life’s blurred boundaries, where formal dining yields to casual gathering, where the kitchen island becomes the new hearth around which family life revolves. The structural logic of this intervention reveals itself gradually: what appears as bold gesture proves to be careful response to the inhabitants’ actual patterns of use.

The designer’s material palette extends this logic of authentic expression throughout the residence. “I have always favored those real, natural materials – wood, stone, plaster – they are allowed to show their own texture and can age gracefully with time,” reflects the architect. This philosophy manifests in the repetition of travertine and wood veneer across both public and private domains, creating what she describes as her preference for “contrast” – the tension between rough and fine, matte and gloss, new and old that brings layers and subtle drama to space.

Custom sconces punctuate the textured exterior walls with warm halos of light, their rough-hewn surfaces echoing the stone’s geological memory. These fixtures represent the kind of bespoke intervention that elevates residential design beyond mere specification toward something approaching craft. Each piece carries the mark of its making, the slight irregularities that distinguish handwork from industrial production.

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