By WONG YUN WEN

Putting an ingenious spin on the classic old barn, London-based design agency dRMM have built a real-life shape-shifting house with mobile walls and roof that has been dubbed the Sliding House.

On the outset, the Sliding House’s conventional linear construction belies its utterly unconventional facilities.

The house features three separate structures, namely the main house, annex and garage lined along a common axis (with the exception of the garage which lies parallel to the structure, to create a courtyard between the main house and the annex).

The magic lies in the autonomous timber-clad mobile roof and walls cover that encase the house. Set upon carefully camouflaged tracks installed along both lengths of the linear estate, the autonomous cover can be set into motion with just one push of a button, gliding along the tracks till it reaches one’s desired spot.

With the main house encased in glass, and open spaces set between structures, the mobile roof and walls cover allow for greater flexibility and variety in creating the most desired environments for any season and at any time of the day.

The mobile cover is not only an ingenious piece of art but is also highly functional, with the four track motors powered by solar rechargeable DC car batteries and having the ability to cover the entire 28m track in a mere six minutes.

The possibilities seem endless with the Sliding House, for the team at drMM has also created the estate in such a way that it could easily accommodate any expansion with its linear outcrop.

Thus, owners of the Sliding House have the flexibility to build a swimming pool or additional garden in front of the main house if they wanted to, which would of course have the option to be sheltered by the mobile cover should the need arise.

All images are taken from Dezeen.

dRMM