There’s nothing like a little surprise to spark a bit of joy. Matt Adams and Ju Row Farr know this better than most. Singular in its approach and deft in its expression, the design of their apartment in Hove, now on the market, is quite unlike most – and all the better for it, as we discover in our latest film.

When the couple bought the Victorian warehouse space, which overlooks Hove’s Southwick ship canal, it was virtually empty (save for what Ju calls a “French-lacquer massacre” upstairs). But while many would have balked at the blankness of the canvas in front of them, the inventive pair – who together founded Blast Theory, an interactive artists’ group – were thrilled. “It’s always had lots of potential,” says Ju. “That’s why we fell in love with it.”

From the off, Matt and Ju wanted to create a contemporary family home, but they were also keen to respect the fabric of the building, a Victorian ice warehouse with loft-like spaces, soaring ceilings and reassuringly thick walls. The last thing they wanted was to “tidy things up” too much, Matt says. Working with Block Architecture, they came up with a responsive and creative plan incorporating discrete kitchen and sleeping spaces held within extruded plywood pods arranged around the shared central living room, which has been fitted with an ingenious system of ceiling-hung curtains that Matt and Ju use to divide the space in innumerable ways. The result is an endlessly flexible, reconfigurable series of spaces in one, where concrete and stainless steel contrast with perhaps more unpredictable additions – diaphanous yellow voile, thick felt and bouncy rubber.

As a consequence of such savvy design decisions, Matt says, the apartment has “taken everything we can throw at it”. For all its raw, industrial qualities, it’s also astonishingly comfortable – spacious, yes, but cosy too, not least when those enveloping felt curtains are drawn. That said, when they are, you’ll miss the ships that cruise in and out of view through the windows. As Ju says, with a smile, “We don’t need a telly…” She pauses. “But we do need a telly.”