Subterms
Wood, stone and lime plaster pervade the minimal interior of this energy-saving home in Muswell Hill that Architecture for London has created for its founder, Ben Ridley. More
Architecture office Studio Hagen Hall has transformed a townhouse in north London into a home inspired by 1970s Californian modernism to remind its owners of time spent living in Los Angeles. More
Matthew Giles Architects used white oak joinery and different floor levels to break up the open-plan ground floor of this redesigned and upgraded six-bedroom house in Wandsworth, London. More
Alexander Owen Architecture has added a marble-clad extension and garden room to this Victorian mid-terrace in East Dulwich, London, to accommodate a home office and a well-stocked bar.The owners, a couple with three young sons, wanted a place to entertain and ample space to spend time together as a family.
Top image: the garden room houses a bar and home office. Above: the kitchen extension looks out at the garden and annexe
In response to the brief, the architects created a single-storey rear extension that adds 13.3 square metres and accommodates an open-plan kitchen, utility room and toilet, plus a 16-square-metre annexe that serves as a work and social space.
Separated by a paved garden, the facade of the extension and garden room are clad in two types of precision-cut marble – a lighter version with hazier veining called Arabescato and a dark grey Bardiglio marble with a more structured finish.
Alexander Owen Architecture clad the kitchen extension in different kinds of marble
“We wanted to create a holistic flow to the house and garden and a certain mimicry between the extension and garden room as new interventions,” Richard Bridges and James Webster, founders of Alexander Owen Architecture, told Dezeen.
“The marble cladding on the extension and garden room has been designed to have similar cut lines and panel formations but the arrangement of the two marble types is reversed.”
The marble is cut so that it wraps seamlessly around the glazing frames
The marble has been mitred around the doors and windows and digitally cut to create precise, 90-degree junctions between the individual slabs. This allows the cladding and the cut lines to seamlessly wrap themselves around the glazing frames.
“The wider site context provides an abundance of trees and greenery, which as the day progresses cast an ever-changing array of light and shadow across the site,” said the architects, who both previously worked at Foster + Partners.
“The final selection of marble was informed by this layering of dappled light on top of the veining, colouration and movement inherent to each type.”
The kitchen is finished with stainless steel worktops
A set of sliding doors with Accoya wood frames opens the kitchen and dining space up to the outside, while the garden room is glazed with a set of bi-folding windows and a pivoting door.
Alexander Owen Architecture chose robust, low-maintenance surfaces for the kitchen extension, including a poured concrete floor, stainless steel island unit, shot-blasted pewter brick walls and a timber ceiling.
Pewter brick walls are contrasted with timber ceilings
“Each material was selected based on how it would sit against the other materials and its ability to sit in an almost ‘raw’ state – the very engineered precision and sheen of the stainless steel and geometric texture of the pewter blocks versus the natural, organic strength of the marble and warmth of the timber,” Bridges and Webster explained.
“The palette tries to create a very calming balance between the organic and the engineered.”
Dallas Pierce Quintero arranges small London home around four courtyards
The steel island unit also incorporates a bench seat for the dining area while a linear skylight lets in sunshine from above.
The same black, wire-cut bricks that pave the garden are used on the floor of the annexe to create a seamless connection between indoors and outdoors. In the garden room, walls are clad in yellow Valchromat MDF and birch ply, as are the built-in desk, bar and storage cupboards.
The garden room offers a “grown-up” space for entertaining
According to the architects, who established their studio in 2013, the home’s layout is carefully divided into various zones tailored to the family’s daily routine.
The utility room and toilet are located in the mid-section of the property so that the kitchen and garden room at the back can function as a peaceful, “grown-up” area that can be kept tidy for dinners with friends.
It also houses a home office
“The rest of the house can effectively be shut off, with the utility space playing a key role in storage,” said Bridges and Webster. “The family snug in the front part of the house means the owners can read books and listen to music on their record player while their children can watch TV or play in the other end of the space.”
The garden room serves as a home office during the week and helps the couple maintain a boundary between work and family life. It also has an expansive bar that can be used for small gatherings.
Bar seating runs along the bi-folding windows
According to Alexander Owen Architecture, there has been a marked increase in clients wanting to create an office space in their home.
“We have had a lot of interest in garden rooms since the start of the pandemic, with some new clients even prioritising this ahead of developing the main house due to the need for home working, schooling and simply more space,” explained the architects.
“It’s undeniable the impact that the last 12 months have had, not only on how much time we spend in our homes but on how we use them as live-work accommodation.”
Covid-19 has forced companies around the world to embrace remote working, with many predicting that working from home will be here to stay long after the virus has been brought under control. Last month Dezeen rounded up 10 products to improve your home-office setup.
Contractors for this project were Create Bespoke and photography is by French+Tye.
Read more: More
A nearly six-metre-high green wall and a basement floor with a walk-on skylight are among the additions made by design and development firm Echlin to this remodelled mews house in Knightsbridge.The resulting design is described by the local firm as a “reinterpretation” of a classic London mews house, with plenty of useable and flexible space, an abundance of natural light and a strong connection to nature.
The ground floor living space, top image, is separated from the dining area via an open shelving system, above
Located on a quiet mews in easy reach of Hyde Park, the 225-square-metre family home is arranged across three floors and connected by a helical oak staircase, which was handmade in East Sussex.
Entered through an oversized bronze door, the ground floor features an entrance hall cast in grey Pietra marble. This is separated from a generous living space, dining area and study via a sliding partition wall.
The basement level features a sunken seating area and a kitchen
The newly created basement level accommodates a large, split-level kitchen and living area while the first floor is occupied by three bedrooms, each with its own en-suite bathroom.
A 5.5-metre-high living wall stretches between the lower ground and ground floors.
The ground floor dining area features banquette seating
Each floor follows a “broken-plan” layout, in which built-in furniture and level changes help to loosely demarcate different areas.
“The vision was to transform a small mews with compromised rooms into a contemporary home with a great feeling of space,” explained Steve Clinch, Head Architect at Echlin. “This has been achieved by opening up the plan and providing views into other spaces, allowing the full width and length of the house to be experienced.”
The ground floor also accommodates a small study
Wide, sliding and pocket doors create views through the different spaces, as does bespoke joinery such as the open shelving that divides the dining, study and living areas on the first floor.
On the lower ground floor, which was added in by the firm, a sunken seating area is located beyond the kitchen and dining area. The level change is intended to create a visual separation while allowing the spaces to remain connected to each other.
The kitchen is made from walnut wood
The walnut kitchen has been designed by Echlin so that all utilities can be concealed behind pivoting pocket doors when the owners are entertaining.
A walk-on skylight on the ground floor terrace is located directly above the sunken seating area to maximise the amount of daylight in the basement. This is also helped by the fully-retractable, floor-to-ceiling glass door that leads out onto a small terrace and frames the view of the green wall.
The basement’s ceiling is a walk-on skylight
Three bedrooms are located on the first floor, where pitched ceilings create a feeling of spaciousness while skylights ensure the spaces get plenty of daylight.The sliding doors in the master bedroom create a visual connection all the way through from the dressing area into the en-suite.
Sliding doors lead into the master bathroom
Much of the furniture in the house is designed by Echlin and made in collaboration with a network of skilled craftsmen. Bespoke pieces include the pale timber table on the lower ground floor, which was handmade in Brighton, while the sofas on the lower ground and ground floors come from Oxfordshire.
According to the studio, the home’s “sense of calm and tranquillity” was created through the use of natural materials, organic textures and a gentle colour palette informed by the nearby park. Meanwhile, the use of metallic surfaces and heritage colours nod to the home’s historic location.
Ten mews houses that take advantage of London’s backstreets
“The current climate has placed an even greater emphasis of the importance of how our homes are designed, how we use them and its impact on our moods,” said Sam McNally, who co-founded Echlin in 2011 with Mark O’Callaghan.
“We recognise that mood, wellbeing and happiness are all shaped by what surrounds us and we are committed to making these spaces as stylish but also as user-friendly as we can.”
A helical staircase connects the three floors
In a thought piece written for Dezeen last year, design writer and TV presenter Michelle Ogundehin outlined 11 ways in which the pandemic will impact the home.
As well as predicting a return to practical kitchens and more intimate room layouts, she believes there will be a desire for more human-centric homes, where natural materials are used to benefit the occupier’s wellbeing.
Photography is by Taran Wilkhu.
Read more: More
An abundance of bright hues and recycled materials were used by London studio Office S&M to renovate a Georgian townhouse in Islington.
Mo-tel House now has a kitchen at the front
The Mo-tel House project involved remodelling the lower ground floor of a home owned by the founder of online fashion rental service On Loan and her family.
The company promotes reusing garments rather than buying new, so the architects took a similar approach when selecting materials for the renovation.
Rearranging the layout created a space for dining to the rear
These include melted, discarded milk bottles and chopping boards for bathroom counters; leftover marble chips for kitchen worktops; and crushed bricks for ceramic pendant lamps.
“Mo-tel challenged us to see reuse as a design tool for bold new ideas, and we found value and opportunities in materials that would otherwise have been overlooked,” said Office S&M founding partner Catrina Stewart.
Custom furniture pieces include a seating nook for the dining area, which also incorporates storage
Overhauling the terraced north London home began with opening up the dark and cramped space at the home’s entrance level.
Removing the internal dividing wall allowed light to enter the living area from both front and back elevations, and also afforded a change of layout. The kitchen was moved to the front of the building, and a dining and seating area inserted towards the rear.
A wide variety of colours are applied across the open-plan space
Larger design elements were treated like scaled-down architectural features. For example, a pale pink structure with a double-pitched “roof” was added to provide a dining bench, seating nook and storage unit.
In the kitchen, a light blue volume with a rounded top forms a pantry and acts as a visual anchor for green terrazzo countertops made from the recycled marble.
Pink and green house designed by Office S&M to offer antidote to London’s “dire rental market”
An apple-green shade was applied to the ceiling, window recesses and a band around the upper walls, complementing the surface of a pill-shaped dining table.
Office S&M, founded by Stewart and partner Hugh McEwen, is no stranger to colour. Its previous projects in London include a house extension with bright yellow accents and a property painted Millennial pink.
A ground floor bathroom pairs pale pink and dark tiles
At Mo-tel House, the studio also chose teal cupboards, a pink tile kitchen backsplash, and tinted mirrors throughout the home.
Pale timber floorboards are laid diagonally and contrast with the brightly coloured surfaces, which extend to hardware like radiators, light switches, electrical outlets and door handles.
A colourful staircase leads up to another bathroom
The renovation, totalling 55 square metres, also encompassed bathrooms on two levels that are stacked at the back of the building.
On the lower ground floor, the first is reached through a pink utility room and is lined with dark tiles.
The ground-floor bathroom features yellow accents and recycled plastic counters
The second bathroom is reached by climbing a staircase decorated in pink and yellow. This washroom was reconfigured to fit a shower as well as a bathtub, and now features the recycled plastic surfaces made from recycled plastic.
Yellow tile grout was chosen to match the bathroom’s window frame and shower curtain, while the rest of the space is white.
Photography is by French + Tye.
Project credits:
Architect: Office S&MEngineer: Foster StructuresContractor: McEllingott BuildingFurniture build: McEllingott BuildingKitchen surfaces: In OperaRecycled plastic surfaces: Smile Plastics
Read more: More
The furnishings and finishes in this London home, designed by interiors studio House of Grey, were chosen for the health of its occupants as well as the health of the planet.Set in Highgate, London, the three-storey townhouse features custom timber furniture, a carbon-absorbing bathroom finish and a mattress made using natural, biodegradable latex.
The living room is painted a deep sage green
According to House of Grey, the design of the interior, with its palette of natural colours and soft textures, was guided by “circular salutogenic design principles”.
This means it hopes to cut out waste and pollution, as a way of working towards a circular economic system. Salutogesis, meanwhile, refers to a medical approach focused on facilitating health rather than simply fighting sickness and disease.
A clay plaster wall finish by Clayworks features in the WC
In keeping with this, each material and resource the studio has used was researched for its impact on human and ecological health while in production, in use and once it has been discarded.
“We are no longer simply finding design solutions, our work is now focused on eliminating the problem altogether,” said the studio’s founder Louisa Grey.
“We have evolved to a place where we choose to work with materials and resources that are good for human health and have a positive ‘cradle to cradle’ impact on the planet.”
A plush white sofa anchors the living room
Finding herself unable to source “beautiful, contemporary” furniture made using sustainable manufacturing processes and natural materials, Grey commissioned artists and makers such as British furniture designer Sebastian Cox to produce bespoke pieces for the project.
“I can never really find what I’m looking for, so at House of Grey we have started creating things for ourselves and for people that feel there is an inherent lack of choice when it comes to finding interior pieces with integrity that represent both their style and values,” she said.
A custom wardrobe was designed by Sebastian Cox
Cox’s pieces include a master bed with matching side tables, as well as a wardrobe and vanity unit made from materials such as ebonised oak and blackened ash, which the designer claims are able to moderate humidity and improve indoor air quality.
The wardrobe interiors are made from cedar wood– a natural pesticide that can repel moths.
Plaster walls of Jaffa Roofhouse imbue apartment with history and warmth
“Thought-through details such as these culminate in an ongoing contentment in a space that improves human health with day-to-day use,” said the studio.
The master bed features green velvet upholstery
The bedding and mattress were supplied by UK manufacturer NaturalMat and, according to the brand, are made entirely from biodegradable materials.
The master bed is upholstered using coconut husk fibres, also known as coir, which are coated in natural latex to create a springy padding.
The mattress by NaturalMat is made using natural and biodegradable materials
The bedroom also features natural lime paint by German brand Bauwerk in a colour that was developed in collaboration with House of Grey as part of a new collection that will launch later this month.
It is made using a variety of natural bases including clay, stone, chalk, slate and limestone, and coloured using natural pigments such as ochre.
Inbuilt shelving offers extra storage space
“This natural lime paint provides a healthy alternative to widely available, chemical-based paints,” said the studio.
“It is free of toxins and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), allowing your walls to breathe when combined with other natural building materials such as clay.”
The bathroom walls are finished in Tadelakt
The bathroom walls are made from a lime-based plaster surface called Tadelakt, which is waterproofed using a soap solution.
Traditionally found in Moroccan architecture, it releases 80 per cent less CO2 during its production than similar cement-based finishes and most CO2 that is generated gets re-absorbed by the lime as it cures.
The sink is made of natural plaster made from sand and unfired clay
The bath and sink consist of a natural plaster made from sands, unfired clays, pigments and minerals, while in the toilet House of Grey used a two-tone clay plaster wall finish by Clayworks in the shades Moon Tonal and Buff.
According to the brand, the natural clay has zero VOC emissions, low embodied carbon and is entirely recyclable.
Gitai Architects has recently renovated an apartment in Israel, covering its walls in plaster to give the space a natural tactility.
Similarly, Spacon & X drew on natural materials and plants to imbue Noma’s burger-focused spinoff POPL with a warm and relaxed atmosphere.
Photography is by Michael Sinclair.
Read more: More
Black walls, built-in raw concrete furniture and a fish pond in a lightwell define Lost House, a residential project designed by David Adjaye in London’s King’s Cross, which has recently come on the market.Royal Gold Medal-winner Adjaye, the founder of Adjaye Associates, designed Lost House in 2004.
Top: the swimming pool. Above: a central lightwell holds a fish pond
The house has come back on the market recently, granting an opportunity to see the interiors of one of the architect’s early residential works in detail.
Original features have been preserved, including an all-green sunken cinema room and a water gardens in planted courtyards that double as lightwells.
A courtyard garden in a lightwell
Hidden behind an unassuming brick facade in an alleyway, Lost House was formerly a delivery yard complete with a loading platform.
Adjaye Associates turned the concrete loading platform into a plinth for an upper-level swimming pool with black-painted sides next to the pink-walled main bedroom.
The ground floor is an open plan living space
On the ground floor, there is a large open plan living, dining and kitchen area with a double-height ceiling.
The sunken conversation pit with a cinema room-style projector, complete with zesty lime walls, built-in bookshelves and wide sofas, is off to one side.
Raw concrete countertops are part of the kitchen
Three tall, glass-walled lightwells stretch up to the black-painted timber eaves of the roof, bringing natural daylight down into the room instead of windows.
In the centre of the living area is a lightwell filled with a fishpond.
A sunken conversation pit is entirely bright green
The square courtyards in the lightwells are planted with tropical greenery. At the back, next to the kitchen, the courtyard features wooden decking around clusters of circular concrete benches inset with the same grey pebbles that surround them.
The black chipboard walls, ceiling and exposed timber beams are reflected in the shiny black resin floor.
Concrete benches in the courtyard garden
Adding to the industrial look are the thick concrete elements of the built-in kitchen, which forms a continuous countertop and splashback.
Ten key projects by RIBA Royal Gold Medal winner David Adjaye
A concrete element continues from the kitchen to the living area, were it forms a low bench upholstered in black leather cushions.
Black walls and floors around the pool and bathroom
Steps lead to the raised ground floor, where the old loading bay plinth supports the lap pool. Black stone tiles surround the pool, which is part of the master bathroom for the main bedroom.
Two stone sinks sit on a concrete shelf below mirrored cabinets. A wet-room style shower allows the residents to wash before and after swimming.
The master bedroom is entirely pink
This bathroom connects directly to the back of the master suite, which has a separate toilet and a long corridor connecting to the stairs. The bedroom is decorated all pink to contrast with the ink-black interiors
A second bedroom is located on this floor, with a third bedroom located up on the first floor that is currently being used as a home office.
An upstairs room is a work from home office
David Adjaye founded Adjaye Associates in 2000 and began his career designing high-end residential projects in north London such as Lost House. Other notable all-black houses by the studio include Dirty House and Sunken House.
Photography is courtesy of United Kingdom Sotheby’s International Realty.
Read more: More
