The kitchen


The living and dining space


The living space looks out on to the landscaped garden


LOW POINT


“The whole planning process was a very frustrating period whereby avoidable delays, frequent goalpost moving and unreasonable requests cost us, our contractors, architects and neighbours unnecessary money, time and nuisance.”


still had the opportunity with this new build to bring in a sense of expanse and connection to the outdoors as well as play with shape, which  fi nd so enegising aout oden inteios e achieved this by working to repeated angles, introducing large format glazing in all directions and carving out double and triple height spaces for ‘wow factor’.”


The house sits in a modest cul de sac of 1930s semis. The family didn’t want to replicate the existing design or create a house that stood out like a sore thumb. “We value modesty and privacy, but we also wanted to take full advantage of the rare opportunity to design a detached new build in London,” adds Lily. The pre-existing house was a one-off cottage built by the owners of the neighbouring house, who had carved up their plot to build a home for their only daughter. She lived there her entire life before selling to the Wood family in 2019. As a result, the house had a unique standing and style within the street, which was honoured in the new design by Coffey Architects. The front facade references the original cottage, matching the pitch and the three windows with a simple square face, the design of which blends into the street in scale and design. But the rear of the property takes on a much more modern aspect. Designed at a projecting angle, to draw the eye down the row of gardens beyond, it orients it away from the neighbours on either side. “This introduces plentiful light to the living spaces without compromising our neighbours’ privacy,” says Lily. “Essentially, despite being a new build, the house is the sum of two parts!


“The exterior of the house is not exactly what e had in ind   it eteen syetical


“The exterior perfectly achieves our design objective of a smart and stylish home that is never fussy and always welcoming”


and elegant Georgian architecture and modern minimalism in my preferred design aesthetic, so the almost ‘twee’ front with its unusual trio of small windows (a nod to its previous life) and its staggered pentagonal rear, was never on the original vision board!” Lily continues. “That said, it perfectly achieves our design objective of a smart and stylish home that is never fussy and always welcoming.” As a new home there were plenty of opportunities to incorporate sustainable building techniques and materials, as well as create a healthy home, particularly important as Lily and her younger son have asthma. The house is rendered and very well insulated, runs off air source heat pumps, is fully electric and heated via et unde oo heating hee is also integrated air conditioning in parts of the house for ultimate comfort. “The natural clay from Clayworks was the starting point for my design intent for the interiors,” says Lily. “I knew I wanted to treat the


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