Attics are floors at the top of a house, close to the roof. Due to the roof slope angle, they usually have an inclined shape, which limits their space and makes them underutilized environments. However, despite this particularity, attics can have several uses in a project and convert into multifunctional spaces for residents.
Historically, attics were mostly used as storage areas. They offered a convenient space to store seasonal objects, old furniture, documents, and other items from a house that were not used frequently. Over the years, the demand for additional spaces and the new usage needs that arose in many houses led to the transformation of many attics into other environments, such as additional bedrooms, offices, art studios, and leisure spaces.
One of the advantages of this use is the ability to better utilize the house's vertical space. In some cases, it is possible to create another floor in the residence, expanding its usable area and adding new environments for its residents. Some design adaptations, such as improving access stairs and installing windows, provide natural light and ventilation, making attics more pleasant and functional. With the sloping roof, the area below it can receive shelves, and cabinets, or even create storage niches, optimizing the available space in the environment.
With a proper project that considers the needs of residents, attics can be transformed into useful and pleasant spaces. Below, we have chosen some examples of Brazilian houses that transformed the attic, creating new ways to relate to these spaces.
House in Humaita / Baumann Arquitetura
"In the first interviews with the clients, we realized that the internal space of the residence could not accommodate the entire program. As there was this limitation with the original volumetrics, we concluded that the best solution to solve the lack of space would be to redistribute the levels of the residence to create a 3rd floor that did not exist before. This new floor that occupies the area of the old roof timbering became an attic that houses the bedroom of one of the couple's children."
Boreal House / Nommo Arquitetos
"In the attic, the last extrusions cut the roof, creating a balcony on one side and a flowerbed on the other, ensuring cross ventilation in the environment. Above the stairs, there is zenithal lighting, which allows light to enter the entire floor, which can be used as an office, home theater, playroom, music room... "
CM House / Arquea Arquitetos
The two-water roof creates an attic, which houses the intimate room, isolated from the rest of the house, for working, reading a book, and playing the guitar. Houses are archetypes resulting from a creative process combined with rational criteria. They are the purest representation of this object in the collective unconscious."
WA Apartment / Estúdio Oficina
"The presence of an underutilized attic was fundamental to the building's expansion to accommodate a family of four. The access to the attic through a small opening in the slab and a sailor-type ladder gained a metal sheet ladder, a larger opening in the slab, and new windows. This allowed better ventilation and lighting for the kitchen and living room. The attic, once a large space only on the subfloor, gave way to two suites and a linen room in the access circulation to the bedrooms and the water tank."
