Recessed Furniture

As I stated in my previous post, I am interested in designing recessed furniture in order to increase the amount of space that I have to work with, but also, being down in the ground slightly while trying shoes on would hopefully then become more of an experience.

I have decided to do this design due to the fact the space that I have to use is actually really quite small when something is designed to scale.. I have used the stair calculator to make sure that my runs and rises are safe and will allow enough space for people to stand on each stair. However what that has meant, is that each staircase has a total run of 1.25m. This really cuts into the space that I have available for my recessed furniture. When I first envisioned this idea, I did not have arched seating in mind but due to the circumstances when designing this to scale, if I did not incorporate this arch, I would not have used the space as efficiently. 

I have added the bench on one side for safety reasons as someone will not be able to accidentally fall into the 'pit' with it incorporated. It is also another element within the design in which I will be able use for displays or something similar. 

Plan view, I have decided to keep the guides showing in this image so one can see how it is all symmetrical and thus balanced. 

Left Elevation. The style that I am using in sketch-up and the subsequent colours look as though this is a sectional cut.. This image shows the recess into the ground and the stairs going down into it.

Front elevation

The following are perspectives showing different aspects of the design.

I have the added a couple of textures to my model to give a better visualisation of what it would look like when it is actually incorporated into my overall design.

Indigo Renderer:

I then did a quick render in Indigo in order to see how my materials would look like. There is a bit of bounce due to the fact that these only rendered for about 20 minutes but it was more of just a test so I'm not fussed. Admittedly the lighting in these renders are done using the shadow function in sketch-up so it would not be the same once placed into 128 Tory Street, due to the fact that the main source of light will be artificial but it still gives a sense of what it may look like in time.