IMAGINE a whale suspended from the ceiling, with two people slumbering in its belly, and you have the sleeping pod in essence. It is the sort of place in which Jonah would have felt perfectly at home. Within its wooden ribcage there is just enough space for a double bed, giving some privacy in an otherwise open-plan warehouse apartment.
Any feeling of entombment or claustrophobia would be wrong, however. The pod is big: about 10ft long and 22ft in circumference. Its incongruous bulk sits rather ill with the rest of the living space, but it is a different story when you go inside. A step and two glass doors lead into a beautifully curved cavity made of plywood, with an overhead light and two bedside lamps picking out the detail of the hundreds of pale wooden laths that line the interior. There is more than enough room for two to sleep or read in bed, and a feeling of being cocooned.
It may not be to everyone’s taste, but the flat’s owners, Jayne Temple and Karl Roberts, love their sleeping pod. “I don’t like small spaces, but this feels quite roomy,” says Jayne, a 28-year-old dentist. “It’s rather like being on a boat because of all the wood, but it doesn’t rock once you’re in it.”
Their flat is in a converted Edwardian warehouse in the centre of Newcastle, and from the front window you can just see ships passing the quayside. It is open plan with very high ceilings, scrubbed floorboards, bare brick walls and steel beams. From a raised seating area at the front of the flat, you step down into the kitchen and dining space, which continues unimpeded to the large back windows, with the pod hovering in the middle just a few centimetres above the floor and seeming to watch the world go by outside.
Yet when Jayne and Karl first saw the pod, they disliked it. It had been commissioned by the previous owners, who said that they did not have anywhere to put it in their new home and included the pod in the sale.
Karl, a 33-year-old computer programmer, says: “When I first saw it I thought, what on earth is that?” They bought the flat last May in spite of the pod, rather than because of it, and intended to get rid of it when they moved in. They could not resist giving it a try, however, and have since come to love it. They had seen other flats in the warehouse that had conventional bedrooms, and felt that they seemed cramped by comparison to theirs. The beauty of the pod is that it gives a greater sense of space; clothes are stored in huge cupboards along one wall of the apartment.
Jayne says: “What we like about it is that it’s different. We were originally looking for a two-bedroom house, not in the city centre, with a bit of garden and a garage, but this was a chance to do something different. There’s plenty of time to be boring later.”
Privacy is not a problem, even when guests come to stay, because there is an intriguing alcove above the bathroom — akin to the space above a giant wardrobe — in which they can sleep. It is reached via a chunky steel ladder that sits flush against the wall.
The pod was born out of Architecture Week, an annual national event in which people pay a small fee to charity in return for a home visit from an architect. The flat now owned by Karl and Jayne originally had a huge wall across one end, behind which was a bedroom. The previous owners approached Henry Amos, of the Glass Arc, an innovative practice in nearby Tynemouth, to create a more open space. His suggestions included knocking down the wall and replacing it with glass partitions, or just having the pod.
Henry had not made a pod before and even now is not quite sure from where he drew his inspiration. “Being suspended is a good way to sleep,” he says. “There are a lot of connections between the pod and being in a boat. Some people say that they dream really well when they sleep in a suspended place.”
The way in which the pod is suspended also involves boat-building techniques: when you step into the pod the force of your movement is resisted, so that it does not pitch backwards too much, although Karl says that getting in with two mugs of tea takes practice. Beneath the structure is a hook to stop it wobbling from side to side; the catch can be undone for anyone who wants a bit of excitement and does not suffer from seasickness.
The pod weighs nearly a ton and was tested to make sure that it was safe. The plywood frame is padded and is covered in a dark blue velour fabric. “We wanted to make something very smooth,” says Henry, “and the idea of planning something of that shape in wood made my mind boggle, so we opted for fabric.”
As the name implies, Glass Arc works a great deal with glass and there are lines of it visible around the middle of the pod. “It became a labour of love because we were innovating all over the place. I did go inside it but I never slept in it, which is something I regret. We haven’t made any more since,” says Henry.
Karl and Jayne are planning to go on an extended trip to Australia later in the year and hope to let their flat. “The pod could be a unique rental feature — something you might not necessarily want in a property you own but good novelty for the short term,” says Jayne. They might even sell the flat, pod and all, but hope that their ingenious bedroom would survive.
Jayne says: “It’s very comfortable to sleep in and people can’t believe it when they first see it, but it’s amazing how quickly living in the pod becomes normal to you.”
A sleeping pod made to order by Glass Arc should cost from £15,000 to £20,000. Telephone 0191-257 4454, or log on to www.glassarc.com
Architecture Week, June 17 to 26, 2005: telephone 020-7973 5246, or log on to www.architectureweek.org.uk
