Explore · Loophole

Loophole.

A big house built from shipping containers. Twenty rooms, every one a different night: decks on the kitchen counter, a car bar, a ball pit, karaoke in the bathtub, a jungle, an aquarium, a roller rink, a room with the furniture on the ceiling. Everybody is having the night of their life, and nobody can leave: the EXIT opens back into the house. Get in line, get past the door, and watch: 33 residents with their own habits (their own cast, not the 34 Neighbors of the field guide), four people working the door, things that wander in off the street, five rooms that are not on the plan, and a night that does not go the same way twice.

CONCEPT

The house, right now

The line

You join the back of the line. Security is at the garage door.

Concept render of Loophole at night, cut open like a dollhouse: twenty container rooms over four floors, Floor 4 and a half above them with five more, a roof deck with a radio booth and the LOOPHOLE sign, a tube slide and a zig-zag stair

Tap someone to talk to them. Tap a room to do something in it. Drag to move, pinch or scroll to zoom.

What is happening

    Secrets and running jokes

    Things the house keeps for people who come back. Found ones are kept in this browser (bh:loophole), nowhere else. Hints for the rest:

      Who lives here

      The cast of In The Yams, the Brokehella comic, doing what each of them would do. Marisol plays records. Rell feeds everybody. Tess leaves a mark on every wall. Jay films everything and posts almost none of it. Mikey fixes things nobody asked about. Nadia hands out water. Kai makes the coffee. Deuce asks if you are good. The Door keeps the door, and only ever says two things. Every so often one of them notices you.

      Concept render of Loophole from the street at night: stacked containers, a green tube slide spiralling down the left side and a free water booth on the porch

      Ground floor

      Concept render of The Garage: a car bar

      The Garage

      Funk, soul and old school hip hop · 98 BPM

      A car bar. The DJ plays off the bonnet of a gutted car, the tool wall is the drinks menu, and the roll-up door stays open to the street.

      Look for: Free water is poured from the radiator tap.

      Concept render of The Kitchen: the decks sit on the kitchen counter, because every good party ends up in the kitchen anyway

      The Kitchen

      R&B and hip hop · 90 BPM

      The decks sit on the kitchen counter, because every good party ends up in the kitchen anyway. The Broke Kitchen cooks what people bring.

      Look for: The fridge door opens onto the next room.

      Concept render of The Laundry Room: stacked washing machines are the speaker wall and the bubbles never stop

      The Laundry Room

      UK garage and two-step · 132 BPM

      Stacked washing machines are the speaker wall and the bubbles never stop. The quickest room in the house.

      Look for: Machine 7 is a door.

      Concept render of The Boiler Room: low ceiling, pipes, one red light and a wall of speakers

      The Boiler Room

      Techno · 130 BPM

      Low ceiling, pipes, one red light and a wall of speakers. The darkest room in the house, on purpose.

      Look for: The pressure gauge on the boiler shows the room's tempo.

      Concept render of The Exit: a long hall, a red exit sign, and one door at the end

      The Exit

      Whatever is playing on the other side of the door · No tempo

      A long hall, a red EXIT sign, and one door at the end. It opens. It opens back into the house. That is the loophole.

      Look for: The Door stands here all night. It only says two things.

      First floor

      Concept render of The Living Room: big sofa, bigger speakers, a disco ball over the rug

      The Living Room

      House · 124 BPM

      Big sofa, bigger speakers, a disco ball over the rug. The room that feels most like a house party.

      Look for: The TV only shows the room from the ceiling camera.

      Concept render of The Mirror Maze: the classic fun house room: angled mirrors and a path you have to find

      The Mirror Maze

      Ambient and disco edits · 110 BPM

      The classic fun house room: angled mirrors and a path you have to find. The quiet way between the stairs and the ball pit.

      Look for: One mirror is a window.

      Concept render of The Ball Pit: knee deep in copper and teal balls, in the middle of the house

      The Ball Pit

      Baile funk and Jersey club · 135 BPM

      Knee deep in copper and teal balls, in the middle of the house. Grown-ups only after ten.

      Look for: There is a coin at the bottom. Nobody has found it.

      Concept render of The Bathroom: sit in the bathtub, take the mic

      The Bathroom

      Karaoke, all night · No tempo

      Sit in the bathtub, take the mic. The tiles do the reverb for free.

      Look for: The mirror shows the lyrics.

      Concept render of The Coffee Bar: cafecito until four in the morning, a chalkboard menu that only lists free things, and the softest chairs in the house

      The Coffee Bar

      Bossa nova and lo-fi · 80 BPM

      Cafecito until four in the morning, a chalkboard menu that only lists free things, and the softest chairs in the house.

      Look for: The tip jar is full of notes, not money.

      Second floor

      Concept render of The Bedroom: the room to come down in

      The Bedroom

      Slow jams and the quiet room · 70 BPM

      The room to come down in. Low light, a ceiling of stars, nobody shouting.

      Look for: Care team checks in here every hour.

      Concept render of The Upside-Down Room: the dinner table, the chairs and the lamp are on the ceiling

      The Upside-Down Room

      Whatever the last room was playing, backwards · No tempo

      The dinner table, the chairs and the lamp are on the ceiling. The container is hung at a tilt, so the floor is never quite level.

      Look for: It is the only room you can see from the street.

      Concept render of The Attic Arcade: cabinets running the site's own games: the culture draft, container stack, marble mayhem

      The Attic Arcade

      Chiptune and game music · 150 BPM

      Cabinets running the site's own games: the Culture Draft, Container Stack, Marble Mayhem. Free play, always.

      Look for: The high score board resets every night.

      Concept render of The Bookcase Snug: find the right book and the bookcase swings open

      The Bookcase Snug

      Jazz, soul and story time · 85 BPM

      Find the right book and the bookcase swings open. Armchairs, a fire, and the In The Yams comic on the shelf.

      Look for: The hidden room. It is not on the signs.

      Concept render of The Paint Room: every wall is fair game

      The Paint Room

      Boom bap and dub · 92 BPM

      Every wall is fair game. Cans on the shelf, drop cloths on the floor, and a new mural every night painted over last night's.

      Look for: Somebody leaves a mark on every wall in the house. It starts here.

      Top floor

      Concept render of The Roller Rink: a wooden oval, a disco ball, and skates in every size by the door

      The Roller Rink

      Roller disco and boogie · 118 BPM

      A wooden oval, a disco ball, and skates in every size by the door. Skateboards welcome after midnight.

      Look for: Go round enough times and you end up on a different floor.

      Concept render of The Greenhouse: a container full of jungle: palms, vines, a mist machine and a hammock

      The Greenhouse

      Amapiano and Afro house · 112 BPM

      A container full of jungle: palms, vines, a mist machine and a hammock. The air is better in here, on purpose.

      Look for: One plant is plastic. Nobody agrees which.

      Concept render of The Aquarium: three walls of tank and a slow blue light

      The Aquarium

      Deep house and dub techno · 120 BPM

      Three walls of tank and a slow blue light. Dance with the fish. The fish do not dance back.

      Look for: There is a coin in the tank too.

      Concept render of The Cinema: three rows of seats and a screen that plays whatever is happening in another room of the house, live

      The Cinema

      Film scores and the late show · No tempo

      Three rows of seats and a screen that plays whatever is happening in another room of the house, live.

      Look for: Sometimes the screen shows you.

      Concept render of The Hall of Doors: nine doors in a row, all different colours

      The Hall of Doors

      Silence, then a different song behind every door · No tempo

      Nine doors in a row, all different colours. Every one opens onto a different room of the house. None of them opens onto the street.

      Look for: The tenth door is painted on.

      Floor 4½

      Floor 4½: five rooms that are not on the original plan of twenty. They turned up above the top floor. Still a concept, like the rest.

      Concept render of The Complaint Department: a tiny office that takes complaints about absolutely everything

      The Complaint Department

      Hold music, forever · No tempo

      A tiny office that takes complaints about absolutely everything. Take a ticket. Your number will be called. Probably.

      Look for: The manager and the clerk are the same person in a different cardigan.

      Concept render of The Room of Bad Decisions: a big red button that says absolutely do not press, a lever that says weather, a vending machine with impossible options and one very ordinary cardboard box

      The Room of Bad Decisions

      A drum roll that never resolves · No tempo

      A big red button that says ABSOLUTELY DO NOT PRESS, a lever that says WEATHER, a vending machine with impossible options and one very ordinary cardboard box.

      Look for: Every object does something different each time, and none of it is dangerous.

      Concept render of The Lost and Found: shelves of things whose owners are somewhere else in the house: one shoe, a key the size of an arm, an umbrella on a dry night, a very small suitcase

      The Lost and Found

      A clock and somebody humming · No tempo

      Shelves of things whose owners are somewhere else in the house: one shoe, a key the size of an arm, an umbrella on a dry night, a very small suitcase.

      Look for: Pick something up and its owner may come looking for it.

      Concept render of The Tiny Museum: a museum of strangely specific things: the most average spoon in the world, an empty frame with a very confident label, a rock with a biography

      The Tiny Museum

      Whispering, and a guard clearing his throat · No tempo

      A museum of strangely specific things: the most average spoon in the world, an empty frame with a very confident label, a rock with a biography.

      Look for: The labels change. The exhibits do not.

      Concept render of The Weather Room: an indoor weather lab

      The Weather Room

      Indoor rain on a tin roof · No tempo

      An indoor weather lab. A small cloud rains on one chair, a window shows a sky from somewhere else, and the forecast is written in chalk.

      Look for: Today's forecast: mild confusion.

      The Roof Deck

      Concept render of the roof deck: a stage under string lights beside the LOOPHOLE sign

      Sunrise sets · 118 BPM

      A stage on top of the house under string lights, with the LOOPHOLE sign, the coin and the top of the tube slide.

      • A zig-zag steel stair up the right side, open to the air, so every floor has its own door to the street, and every one of those doors opens back inside.
      • A tube slide spirals from the roof deck down the left side to the street. It ends at the porch, which is inside.
      • The second floor sits half a metre off true and the Upside-Down Room hangs at a tilt.
      • A porch with a ticket window that only sells free water.

      The plans CONCEPT

      Four floors, drawn to scale from the same plan file the 3D model, the renders and this page are built from: 31.9 m long, every room two shipping containers welded together. A study, not a construction drawing. What is decided and what is not is written under it.

      Loophole floor plans, a concept study drawn to scale: four floors of five container rooms each, doors between neighbouring rooms, an outside stair on the right, a tube slide on the left, every room marked proposed
      Drawn by scripts/build_loophole_plans.py from site/data/loophole-plan.json. Open the sheet full size. On a phone, slide it sideways.

      Decided, in the plan

      • A room is two 20 ft high-cube containers welded side by side: 6.1 by 4.9 m inside, 2.9 m high.
      • Twenty rooms, five to a floor, on four floors, with a roof deck on top.
      • Rooms open into their neighbours through side doors, so the house is one long walk on every floor.
      • The stair is outside, at the right-hand end.
      • The second floor sits half a metre off true, and the stair stands clear of it.
      • A tube slide runs down the left-hand end, from the top floor to the street.
      • The EXIT room's door opens back into the house.
      • Above the four floors, Floor 4½: five more rooms that were not on the first plan.

      Still open

      • Site
      • Architect
      • Structural engineer
      • Fire exits and egress widths
      • Capacity
      • Permits
      • Money

      Revisions

      • Rev A First issue. One house of twenty rooms replaces Cargo City’s sixteen districts.
      • Rev B Floor 4½ added: the Complaint Department, the Room of Bad Decisions, the Lost and Found, the Tiny Museum and the Weather Room. The original twenty are unchanged.

      Walk round the model

      Concept render of the Loophole roof deck: a stage under string lights beside the sign

      About 1 MB, loaded only if you ask for it. Drag to turn it.

      Why a house

      A field with stages makes people stand still and face one way. A house makes them wander: down the hall, up the stairs, into the next room to see what is playing, and that is where people meet. Every room keeps the Brokehella rules: free water, a care team on every floor, artists paid, and every number published on the Receipts.

      The model, every picture and every room on this page are made by a script from one plan, so a room renamed in the plan is renamed everywhere. Nothing here has been built, and the people in it are characters. When the house has a site, a date and a door that opens onto the street, it will say so on Events first.