Year 2007
Contract Value Approx. £2,400,000

The client, the freeholder of 6 garages in Hampstead, asked for a proposal for 2 new houses to be built over the garages between a block of flats and a 3 storey house. The design was challenging as the depth of the site is very limited, there are no gardens to the rear and the site is within a conservation area. We originally aimed to create two number three-storey units above the garages, but the planners asked for a reduction in height to one of the units. The idea behind the design was to create a light and open feel for the houses. The living rooms were located on the top floors in order to have more light and better panoramic views of London, with terraces and balconies to the outside. This arrangement meant that the design had to incorporate a lift within each unit. Each unit incorporates a basement entertainment/play room. Both the block of flats to the left and the three storey detached house to the right have, as their main feature, bay windows to their front elevations. In this design we decided to develop the idea of the bay structure further so that the skin of the building would project out, with a subtle curve forming the bays. The windows, with larger glass panes, have less detail than either of the buildings around. The material used is vertical slabs of light brown lime stone. To the rear the building is clad with brown bricks with large punctuations as the proposal looks out into a small wood.