Bronze Interior Space and Exhibition Design · 2025
Framed Sanctuary Minimalist Living Interior
- A' Design Award 2025 Bronze Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: CHT Architect and Partidesign Studio
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 9,637
- Verification code 02385D45BF · Verify this award
About Framed Sanctuary Minimalist Living Interior
Framed Sanctuary is a minimalist interior that transforms a 40 year old apartment into a calm, reflective living space. A 1.5 centimeter steel frame defines spatial boundaries without walls, allowing light and air to flow freely. Concrete, wood and monochrome tones enhance material contrast and sensory depth. The restructured layout improves daylight access, circulation and spatial clarity, with focus on framed views and daily rituals. The project emphasizes structure, emptiness and light to create a quiet yet engaging atmosphere in a dense urban setting.
Chien Hao Tseng's Framed Sanctuary Minimalist Living Interior operates within the aesthetic lineage of contemporary residential minimalism, a design philosophy that emerged from the intersection of modernist spatial principles and the late-twentieth-century minimalist art movement, subsequently evolving into a sophisticated approach to domestic environments that balances reductive formal clarity with material warmth and lived experience, representing a maturation of minimalist thinking that acknowledges human needs for comfort, texture, and visual interest within rigorously edited spatial frameworks. The compositional achievement of this interior environment resides in its masterful orchestration of horizontal and vertical elements that organize the domestic landscape into clearly articulated yet fluidly connected zones, employing the black steel shelving system as both functional storage and spatial armature that frames views, defines territories, and creates rhythmic visual structure through the repetition of slender mullions and the modular grid of display compartments, while the layered ceiling planes establish hierarchical spatial relationships through their stepped configuration that suggests movement from intimate foreground zones toward more expansive background areas. The chromatic sophistication evident in the carefully calibrated neutral palette demonstrates exceptional sensitivity to tonal relationship and material resonance, deploying warm-toned pale gray wall surfaces that provide a gentle backdrop, cooler concrete-effect applications that introduce textural interest and visual weight, natural pale wood flooring that grounds the composition with organic warmth, black steel framing that provides crisp definition and contemporary edge, and selective honey-toned wood accents in sculptural forms that punctuate the achromatic scheme with moments of concentrated warmth, creating a low-contrast yet materially rich environment where subtle variations in hue, value, and saturation reward sustained attention. The technical facility evident in the spatial planning reveals sophisticated understanding of domestic circulation, sightline management, and the choreography of daily activities, positioning furnishings to create conversation zones while maintaining visual connection across spaces, integrating storage solutions that remain architecturally coherent rather than appearing as afterthoughts, and employing lighting design that layers ambient, accent, and task illumination to support varied activities and atmospheric conditions throughout the day. Passages of particular accomplishment include the elegant resolution of the foreground reading zone where the iconic mid-century chair with its woven cane surfaces provides textural and formal contrast to the rectilinear architectural envelope, the carefully curated shelving display that balances books, audio equipment, and sculptural objects within the modular grid to create visual interest without clutter, and the subtle interplay of horizontal floor planes and vertical wall surfaces that establishes spatial clarity through geometric simplicity. The thematic content centers on the creation of domestic sanctuary through material restraint and spatial discipline, exploring how edited environments can support contemplative living, creative work, and aesthetic appreciation simultaneously, celebrating the beauty inherent in essential forms, honest materials, and the careful curation of possessions that reflect personal interests and cultural engagement. The work invites contemplation of minimalism as a philosophy of dwelling that transcends mere aesthetic preference to encompass values of intentionality, quality over quantity, and the mindful relationship between inhabitants and their built environment, suggesting that domestic spaces can function as both functional settings for daily life and frameworks for sustained aesthetic experience. This interior environment seems to propose that contemporary residential design can achieve richness through subtlety rather than accumulation, complexity through layered simplicity rather than ornamental elaboration, and warmth through material authenticity rather than decorative gesture, offering a model of minimalist domesticity that balances the reductive impulses of modernist spatial thinking with the human need for comfort, beauty, and personal expression within carefully edited frameworks that honor both aesthetic discipline and lived experience.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- This project reimagines a 40 year old apartment into a minimalist sanctuary. Monochrome materials black steel, concrete, and oak are integrated with precision, forming spaces that feel both structured and calm. Light flows through reconfigured openings, enhancing spatial clarity and emotional comfort. Without traditional partitions, the home invites reflection, reading and peaceful daily living through considered composition and material warmth.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The interior space covers 110 square meters. Key materials include 1.5 cm square steel frames, brushed concrete surfaces, oak wood flooring, and fluted tiles. The lightweight metal frame system is securely wall mounted and engineered to support heavy objects while maintaining a minimal visual presence.
- Tags
- Minimalist Interior, Adaptive Reuse, Steel Frame, Urban Apartment, Spatial Framing, Modern Zen, Monochrome Design, Daylight Optimization, Concrete and Wood, Taipei
- Production Technology
- The project required precise engineering to integrate steel, concrete, and wood with seamless connections. A 1.5 cm steel frame was custom fabricated to be lightweight yet load bearing. Wall integration, anchoring systems, and surface junctions were resolved through prototyping and testing. The outcome is a structure that supports both aesthetic clarity and technical reliability within a minimalist framework.
- Design Challenge
- The greatest challenge was integrating ultra-slim 1.5 cm steel frames that are both visually light and structurally strong. Achieving seamless connections between materials metal, concrete and wood required extensive prototyping. The project also overcame challenges in optimizing daylight within a poorly lit 40 year old layout, requiring total spatial reconfiguration under government renovation regulations.
- Project Duration
- The project began in November 2023 in Taipei, Taiwan, and was completed in July 2024 after eight months of structural redesign and interior construction.
- Operation Flow
- Residents move freely through the open plan living, kitchen, and reading areas. The space naturally guides the user through light, texture, and material transitions. Custom built elements such as the metal frames and furniture are positioned to define function zones without physical barriers, encouraging fluid, intuitive interaction.
- Research
- This design is based on applied design research aiming to transform old apartment layouts for modern minimalist living. Qualitative research included spatial behavior studies and lighting simulations. Physical prototypes and material stress tests were conducted to refine the metal framework. The result is a structurally optimized and visually calm environment, which promotes both spatial clarity and emotional well being. The research contributes to adaptive reuse practices in urban housing design.
- Inspiration
- Inspired by the Japanese concept of Ma, this project explores the balance between structure, emptiness, and light. Natural light becomes a compositional element, casting shifting shadows across raw concrete and warm wood. A 1.5 cm metal frame defines spatial boundaries without walls, while material transitions emphasize quiet beauty. The result is a spatial sanctuary where simplicity supports reflection and everyday rituals.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Architect / Photographer Chien Hao Tseng, Framed Sanctuary, 2024.
Image #2: Architect / Photographer Chien Hao Tseng, Framed Sanctuary, 2024.
Image #3: Architect / Photographer Chien Hao Tseng, Framed Sanctuary, 2024.
Image #4: Architect / Photographer Chien Hao Tseng, Framed Sanctuary, 2024.
Image #5: Architect / Photographer Chien Hao Tseng, Framed Sanctuary, 2024. - Patents
- Copyrights belong to CHT Architect and Partidesign Studio, 2024.
Colors of Framed Sanctuary Minimalist Living Interior
Get Framed Sanctuary Minimalist Living Interior
Minimalist Architecture and Interior Design Services
We transform existing spaces into calm, reflective sanctuaries through architectural precision and minimalist design. Our Taipei-based studio specializes in residential renovations that balance structural clarity with material warmth. International A' Design Award winners.
G0E23 Shop