Channeling Childhood

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Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Cape Cod

Spring / Summer 2018 capecodbuilders.org

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KID’S ROOM DESIGNS Each bunk has a reading light and small cubbies to store comic books, candy and toys.

The room is decorated with playful pops of orange against a neutral taupe that echoes the grays and browns of the home's natural setting.

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SPRING SUMMER 2018 / AT HOME ON CAPE COD

KID’S ROOM DESIGNS

Hutker Architects captures the youthful magic of transforming attic space into a playful bunkroom hideout.

DESIGNED BY HUTKER ARCHITECTS P H OTO G R A P H Y BY B R I A N VA N D E N B R I N K For many kids, usurping unused attic space to shape their own private corner of the universe is a dream come true. It doesn’t matter that the space is rough and unfinished, the wall studs are exposed and the slope of the roofline cuts into the ceiling height. It’s their special hideaway, where they can hang out with their friends, have sleepovers or enjoy time alone, reading, daydreaming or plotting their next adventure.

This was the inspiration behind the attic bunkroom created for a young family with a daughter and two adolescent-age sons. Hutker Architects was hired to design and build the Cape summer home, which will serve as a place for friends and family to gather for generations to come.

Hutker architect Matt Schiffer designed and managed the project, with the help of designers Erin Levin and Ryan Alciendinho. Although the home is new construction and could’ve easily incorporated a finished bunkroom, Schiffer explains, [It] was meant to look like an attic space that was refinished or converted into a bunkroom with bunk beds.” For the space to appear unfinished, horizontal boards reminiscent of raw exterior sheeting and basic two-by-fours were used for the walls. The windows on either side of the chimney were kept small, which adds to the attic-like ambience while maintaining balance and proportion with the rest of the house.

“We actually wanted it to look rougher than that to create more of a rustic finish,” shares Schiffer. “But the builders we work with are so good that they made everything look perfect; they are unbelievably good finish carpenters.” The bunkroom still manages to capture that old attic-turned-bunk-space aesthetic, but with polish.

The owners, working with Hutker’s interior design team, decorated the room with playful pops of orange and Tootsie Roll artwork that captures the sweet nostalgia of childhood. The bunks are painted a neutral shade that echoes the grays and browns of the home’s natural setting.

For the bunk beds, Schiffer says, Mark A. Hutker, founder and principal of Hutker Architects, wanted to create little reading alcoves in each bunk, outfitted with individual swing-arm lights, and small cubbies for comic books, candy, phones and chargers and other everyday items. Underneath the left-side bunks, drawers were built to hold blankets while the right-side bunks conveniently stow a set of portable trundle beds for sleepovers.

“We try to make every space count,” says Schiffer about the company’s design ethos.

“This is an instance of not writing off attic space, making it into something meaningful and useful.” He adds, “It’s a real gathering space where the kids can go.”

AT HOME ON CAPE COD / SPRING SUMMER 2018

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