Designing Chapel Market

I acted as both developer and architect on this scheme for two new houses, so there was no client involved.

I was able to buy the site due to its many constraints and problems- there was no street access, with a right of way entrance over the adjoining neighbour’s land. The site, located behind a row of terraced houses, was surrounded by a 4m high party wall which limited the light and views available to the site, and added the need for 7 party wall agreements with neighbours. The existing workshops had been abandoned for several years and were in a derelict state, inhabited only by several hundred pigeons.

As my first new build as an independent architect, the brief was simply to create architecture of the best possible quality on an unpromising site, within the financial constraints of a successful development. It was also an opportunity to explore themes and technology to form the ethos of a new practice.

The challenge was to create a sense of light, space and privacy in a site which is surrounded by a high wall, with many overlooking windows to the north (entrance) side. The strategy was to turn the houses in on themselves, turning them away from the houses to the north and opening up to the views and light from the south. All that is visible to the visitor is a narrow timber wall and two doors at the end of a long alleyway. The height and form of the building is almost entirely defined by planning restrictions and neighbouring rights to light issues.

We pulled back the building line from the south wall, to create a series of courtyards and terraces, and to create an external elevation that allowed us to bring light and air into the enclosed lower levels of the house. This also creates a private, sequential experience as you enter the houses, with the spaces gradually unfolding first into an open living area, and then out into an internal courtyard, an intimate and private space deep within the plan of the house.

The route to the upper floor is via a tall, narrow top lit stair to rooms with views south across the backyard roofscape of the area. Full height glazed doors lead from the bedroom to a terrace overlooking the courtyard below, giving a three dimensionality to the exterior spaces.

A lightweight steel frame was chosen for speed, driven by the need to carry all the building materials on to site by hand, through a doorway and then down a 12m accessway. This was then framed in timber, with masonry cladding to the noisy north elevations, and sustainable sweet chestnut to the south to create a natural feel to the internal courtyards.

The houses are finished in luxurious natural materials- limestone and walnut- that are inviting to the touch and the barefoot resident. As you step out into the courtyard, the bare brick walls reflect the history and age of the site, a perception heightened by contrast with the modern surfaces of the new houses.

Internally, a minimal palette of luxurious natural materials- mainly walnut and limestone- were used. This palette was consciously kept to a minimum to create a sense of harmony to the spaces, while creating a series of individual elements thought the houses to create identity in the various spaces, such as giant opening walnut doors to the courtyard, that form a snug in winter behind, but open up in summer to the courtyards.

Large areas of fixed glazing to the ground floor draw the space of the courtyards through to the interior during the winter, while solid elements articulate the entrances. To the first floor, smaller windows define views out across the surrounding rooftops, reducing solar gain.

The budget constraints were very tight, to the extent that the project was delayed for a year post planning while we searched for a design and contractor that could produce a building within the budget.

We were very lucky with our choice of contractor, and once the project started on site in Jan 2006, we progressed very quickly to taking part in Open House in Sept 2006.

Many elements were designed during the construction phase in collaboration with the main contractor, who made all the windows, doors and internal joinery from scratch, mostly from solid walnut.

The basic financial strategy became to rationalise the design of the buildings as much as possible, removing any wasteful overhangs, cantilevers or other complexities from the basic shell, and minimising the number of elements required to produce the finished envelope. This approach allowed us to then retain the natural finishes and high quality components that define the experience of living in the houses.

I feel that the final result is a piece of architecture, created for not much more than the cost of building a standard London developer spec house. The cost in the process, however, has been the enormous investment of design time that this project needed- being the developer was very beneficial in allowing us to make this investment of time profitably.

As the ultimate test of a design, I am now living in one of the houses, and I expect the details of the house to evolve over time as the rational shell of the original concept is gradually personalised.