A 1940s house in Shanghai has been reconfigured by RIGI Design to create a light-filled family home with a steel staircase, adaptable modular furniture and playful house-shaped elements.

Studio founder Kai Liu reconfigured a home in a densely built neighbourhood to suit the needs of a young family.
Called A White House, A Growing Home, the redesigned property caters to the evolving needs of family living with adaptable furnishing and design elements that appeal to both children and adults.

"A house is not equal to home, home belongs to us and our family," Liu explained. "A house is like a container to carry our growth, experience and hope."
Originally built in 1947, the three-storey residence was typical of its era and had, in Liu's words, paid "witness [to] the lives of generations", but it suffered from poor lighting and layout due to the depth of the building.
To introduce natural light to the core of the building, the old walled-in staircase was ripped out and a new, open stairway running through the triple height building put in its place.
"This is the area we modified most," Liu explained. "The whole building starts from light and vertical space."

A large skylight now sits above the stairway, filtering down to each level through holes punched in to the steel plates of the new suspended staircases.
The footprint of the stairway was expanded to allow for roomy landings, and the structure was further improved by even...