The site is located behind a row of terraced houses and accessed via a narrow alleyway. One of the many former urban workshops nestled behind London’s terraced streets, the site is entirely surrounded with no road access meaning all materials had to be carried to the site through a doorway to the entrance alley.
The challenge was to create a sense of light, space and privacy in a small site surrounded by high walls, with many overlooking windows to the north (entrance) side. The strategy was to turn the houses in on themselves, and away from the houses to the north, whilst opening up to the views and light from the south. All that is visible to the visitor is a narrow timber wall and two doors at the end of a long alleyway.
The building line was pulled back from the south wall, to create a series of courtyards and terraces, and an external elevation allowing light and air to reach the enclosed lower levels of the house. This also creates a private, sequential experience upon entering the houses, with the spaces gradually unfolding first into an open living area, and then out into an internal courtyard, an intimate and private space deep within the plan of the house. The upper floor is accessed via a tall, narrow top lit stair to rooms with views south across the backyard roofscape of the area. A terrace overlooks the courtyard below, giving a three dimensional effect to the exterior spaces.
The houses are finished in luxurious natural materials - limestone and walnut - that are inviting to the touch and the barefoot resident. The bare brick walls of courtyard reflect the history and age of the site, a perception heightened by contrast with the modern surfaces of the new houses.
The project is sustainable through its re-use of a previously unwanted brown-field site, and shows that innovative design can be used to create interesting spaces on an unpromising site.
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