A robust & carefully crafted home for a downsizing couple on a narrow plot in South London, with a construction cost of £350k.
Forming a bookend to an existing terrace, Whittaker Parsons designed an 88 sqm home on a logistically challenging site between a substation and the clients’ former family home. Getting its name from its sculpted form, its parapet is faceted, and corners are cut away to address the corner of the site. The choice of red brick and in-situ concrete bands forming the parapets, sills and lintels is a nod to the language of surrounding Victorian terraces.
Internally the crafted spaces unfold, offering a beautifully bright and calm sanctuary with views across the gardens to Crystal Palace. A generous and beautifully crafted oak staircase is located at the front of the building serving the south-facing habitable rooms. The accommodation is split over three floors comprising: a living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen/diner/family room and subterranean study. Their generosity of volume and manipulation of natural light aims to create a series of calm and peaceful spaces.
The lower ground floor family room, housing the kitchen and dining space, is formed of two volumes. The first volume holds the bamboo kitchen (a super sustainable sheet material and a healthy, robust alternative to MDF), and the second larger volume is a seating area with exposed timber ceiling joists and elegant floor-to-ceiling sliding doors leading into the sunken courtyard garden.
"We decided to build our own house on the garden plot at the side of our house. We were approaching retirement, we love the area (Peckham), we wanted to stay close to friends and our children were away at university. We found the added value of a new build attractive when considering the cost of moving home. With the new build we could downsize and have our new home built exactly as we would like it.
Having decided on a new build we interviewed several architects. Matt was recommended by a friend who had worked with him on a build project at the Tate St Ives. Matt and Camilla always took our views and lifestyle into account and included us in decisions but never overwhelmed us with too much detail. They also often completed complex negotiations on our behalf. They had a good working relationship with the contractor we agreed on and their excellent project management skills made things much less stressful for us. Their use of physical models also greatly helped us to visualise the various early drafts.
Now in the house we can say that project exceeded expectations, we are so grateful to Matt and Camila. This has been the experience of a lifetime for us and Matt and Camilla were pivotal in us achieving our beautiful new home. The house is as we planned, new, light, and modern, with expansive south facing views making us feel closely connected with the outside world.
Our favourite aspects of the house are the views afforded by the very large windows, the bamboo and concrete kitchen and the staircase. They also seemed to have created a tardis effect with the inside feeling very much bigger than you might expect from the outside, in part through the windows and high beamed ceilings.
Basically, we love our new house and will forever be indebted to Matt and Camilla for making our fantasy a reality."
- Rick & Hannah O'Shea, 2022
Main contractor: BCS - Building Contractor & Services Ltd.
Photos: French + Tye
A robust & carefully crafted home for a downsizing couple on a narrow plot in South London, with a construction cost of £350k.
Forming a bookend to an existing terrace, Whittaker Parsons designed an 88 sqm home on a logistically challenging site between a substation and the clients’ former family home. Getting its name from its sculpted form, its parapet is faceted, and corners are cut away to address the corner of the site. The choice of red brick and in-situ concrete bands forming the parapets, sills and lintels is a nod to the language of surrounding Victorian terraces.
Internally the crafted spaces unfold, offering a beautifully bright and calm sanctuary with views across the gardens to Crystal Palace. A generous and beautifully crafted oak staircase is located at the front of the building serving the south-facing habitable rooms. The accommodation is split over three floors comprising: a living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen/diner/family room and subterranean study. Their generosity of volume and manipulation of natural light aims to create a series of calm and peaceful spaces.
The lower ground floor family room, housing the kitchen and dining space, is formed of two volumes. The first volume holds the bamboo kitchen (a super sustainable sheet material and a healthy, robust alternative to MDF), and the second larger volume is a seating area with exposed timber ceiling joists and elegant floor-to-ceiling sliding doors leading into the sunken courtyard garden.
"We decided to build our own house on the garden plot at the side of our house. We were approaching retirement, we love the area (Peckham), we wanted to stay close to friends and our children were away at university. We found the added value of a new build attractive when considering the cost of moving home. With the new build we could downsize and have our new home built exactly as we would like it.
Having decided on a new build we interviewed several architects. Matt was recommended by a friend who had worked with him on a build project at the Tate St Ives. Matt and Camilla always took our views and lifestyle into account and included us in decisions but never overwhelmed us with too much detail. They also often completed complex negotiations on our behalf. They had a good working relationship with the contractor we agreed on and their excellent project management skills made things much less stressful for us. Their use of physical models also greatly helped us to visualise the various early drafts.
Now in the house we can say that project exceeded expectations, we are so grateful to Matt and Camila. This has been the experience of a lifetime for us and Matt and Camilla were pivotal in us achieving our beautiful new home. The house is as we planned, new, light, and modern, with expansive south facing views making us feel closely connected with the outside world.
Our favourite aspects of the house are the views afforded by the very large windows, the bamboo and concrete kitchen and the staircase. They also seemed to have created a tardis effect with the inside feeling very much bigger than you might expect from the outside, in part through the windows and high beamed ceilings.
Basically, we love our new house and will forever be indebted to Matt and Camilla for making our fantasy a reality."
- Rick & Hannah O'Shea, 2022
Main contractor: BCS - Building Contractor & Services Ltd.
Photos: French + Tye
