Brick House
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For a development in one of London’s most exclusive residential neighbourhoods, Brick House offered an unusual degree of freedom. The mid-twentieth-century building it replaced was unassuming and in a perilous state of disrepair. It could therefore be swept away to make way for a contextually sensitive yet visually striking newbuild, with the support and consent of Savills Planning, the London Borough of Camden, and its immediate neighbours.
Brick House maintains a harmonious relationship with its surroundings. It stands no taller than its neighbours, and it pays credence to the local vernacular with relief brick detailing. Yet the project succeeds in doubling the internal floor area and improving the overall sensation of space through the excavation of a voluminous new basement, the careful recalibration of floor levels, and the creation of dormers so as to allow for an additional floor at roof level.
The break from the language of the previous property is registered in almost all aspects of the design, from the crisp zinc roof to the sliding doors and floor-to-ceiling picture windows. A subtle reference to the better-quality designs of the era is made in the form of the polished walnut staircase, which runs the full height of the property.
