London Brownstones

London, United Kingdom

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London Brownstones

London, United Kingdom

Firm

Knox Bhavan Architects LLP

Type

Residential › Private House Multi Unit Housing

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2014

SIZE

3000 sqft - 5000 sqft

Photos

Dennis Gilbert, VIEW (23)

A pair of new houses in Dulwich; London Brownstones replace an ugly 1950’s bomb damage infill building and are a contemporary reinterpretation of the Edwardian terrace. The planners advice to ‘fit in’ to the local context led to houses which, whilst ‘fitting in’ are unashamedly contemporary both inside and out. Each house is 200sqm and has 5 bedrooms. The brief was to build one house for the client, (Greg, Jenny and their children) and the other to fund the project.

The plan of the houses responds to modern living, a constrained site and diagonal rear building line (prescribed by the planners). The ground floor layout is open plan, a sitting, kitchen, dining space. Clear views through the houses from front to back and a deliberate use of seamless and natural materials enhance the sense of space and light inside, despite the narrow plan.

By carefully exploiting the levels on site, an extra storey was created at the rear. The kitchens are partially sunk into the ground, the clerestory (lighting the kitchen work surfaces) finishes at the height of the garden wall. The curved eaves (to the outriggers) soften the demarcation between wall and roof, allowing light to funnel down to the kitchen below. Sliding folding doors seamlessly connect inside with an external courtyard. The kitchen worktop and the polished concrete floor both run from inside, out into the courtyard, whilst a projecting glass canopy provides partial enclosure. The garden elevation of the outrigger is clad in tongue and groove larch boarding, through which little angled bedroom projecting bays peep.

The houses have beautifully crafted internal joinery. Full height doors on the ground floor, close into pockets in the wall; so the internal space can completely open up. The front bay windows have integrated sliding shutters, to give the rooms part or total privacy. A curved bespoke timber staircase unites all levels of the house. No space is wasted on the upper floors and the use of curves in plan and section makes the house feel unique flowing and special.

The frontage onto Elmwood Road is stone: Terracotta sandstone laid in ashlar courses; with white sandstone lintols, columns, and cills, aligning with the stucco bands on the neighbouring houses either side. The zinc clad front dormers have the same pitch as the neighbouring dormers, but the ridge is curved. Timber framed, the houses are built to exceed current building regulations.

Construction took two and a half years; as the first Contractor went into liquidation half way through, and a new Contractor prepared to finish the project had to be found.

Knox Bhavan Appointed March 2010
Planning approval July 2011
Start on site November 2011
Completion April 2014

London Brownstones are a contemporary answer to the ubiquitous and well-loved London terraced house. Durable beautiful materials, ingenious joinery, light and curves in every dimensions are all used in a truly inventive way, to create a relevant workable solution, to building alongside existing residential building stock in the 21st century.

Credits
Client: Greg and Jenny Falzon
Architect: Knox Bhavan Architects
Contractor: Denis Kostenko Building Services
Structural engineer: Price & Myers
Services engineer: Paul Bastick Associates
Quantity surveyor: Ian Thomson & Company

Photography
Dennis Gilbert