The Tree House
Gingerbread House. Photography: Chloe Dewe Mathews
Stapleton Hall Road
Walter Segal self-build houses. Photography: Ian White
Forest Mews
Open House London takes place this weekend, revealing some of London’s best architectural sites. Here are our top 5 picks for residential architecture, in no particular order. Check the website and book ahead if necessary.
1. The Tree House in Tower Hamlets is a timber-framed, timber-clad house extension, designed by 6a for architecture critic Rowan Moore. The project picked up the RIBA London Small Project Award this year and is on the Manser Medal shortlist. The building and the timber deck that connects it to the main house curve around to accommodate a tree in the garden, giving the project its name.
2. Architect Laura Dewe Mathews designed the wonderful Gingerbread House in Hackney for herself in 2012, and in 2013 it won the AJ Small Projects Awards. The building exploits a small urban plot behind a former Victorian box factory, and was built using Cross-Laminated Timber panels. Its name comes from the facade of rounded cedar scales.
3. Stapleton Hall Road is the latest development from award-winning developers Solidspace. The two split-level houses in Haringey, by architect Stephen Taylor, are light, airy and characterful. Completed in 2014, they are a contemporary reinterpretation of the traditional Victorian family house. Both properties are currently on the market with The Modern House.
4. The Walter Segal self-build houses are a close of 13 timber-frame houses built in the 80s using the ‘Segal Method’, a modular system of design and construction pioneered by the celebrated Swiss architect Walter Segal. Two of the properties are opening their doors for the event. Their sustainable features include solar electric, water and space heating.
5. Forest Mews is approached from a quiet street in Forest Hill via a set of laser-cut steel gates and tree-lined drive. The three mews houses, by architects Robert and Jessica Barker, have vertical gardens and share a geometric courtyard made up of gravel slabs, grasses and wildflowers. One of the three houses is currently available to let with The Modern House.
For modern properties for sale and to let in the UK, visit The Modern House.
