There’s a good reason your life coach tells you to “bring down your walls.” It opens your mind, gives more breathing room and helps create a feeling of continuity. The same applies for architecture. Homeowners opting for fewer walls, floor-to-ceiling glass surfaces and wide-open spaces can bring in more light, make small areas look expansive and meld the living room with the backyard.
More home buyers are striving to capture better views and “more of an indoor-outdoor relationship” with their homes and the environment, according to Utah-based architect Clive Bridgwater. Take, for example, the award-winning 9,000 square foot abode Bridgwater designed with dramatic views of the snow-capped Wasatch Mountains. Instead of duplicating all the elements of a two-tier great room outside, Bridgwater employed new technologies that made it possible for a 30-foot stretch of wall to fold into a corner and seemingly disappear, instantly creating an outdoor living room. During the summer, an equivalent room below opens to the pool area and lawn.
Bringing the outside in and the inside out—even fleetingly—can make a house feel like an open-air paradise. Brazilian architect Rafael Palatano says the tropical beach site of his largely wall-free “Leaf House” outside Rio De Janeiro is “a pleasure enhancer of experiencing that specific nature.”
A swimming pool snakes into the house; past the formal dining room it morphs into a fishpond with aquatic plants bordered by a veranda. The home gets its name from the flower-shaped roof which acts as a giant leaf that shields the enclosed spaces from the scorching sun. With the sliding doors open, trade winds from the sea pass through the residence.
Open-air living can do wonders for stretching space in small homes. “A sense of openness creates a sense of spaciousness,” says Hamptons architect Frederick Stelle. Stelle mostly eschewed interior walls for a beach house he designed in Amagansett, New York. The architect relied on only sliding glass panels that span 90 feet and open onto an infinity edge pool. What’s more, the entire center section of the home can be opened to the elements, creating a seamless transition to the surrounding grounds. After all, Stelle adds, “the glass box is “more focused on what’s outside than in.”