Passers by strolling along this London street of Victorian houses might stop, look and wonder at how a family house could be slotted into this narrow sliver of land. The ground floor of the house opens from a width of just 2.8 metres at the front through to 7 metres to the rear of this wedge-shaped site. Designer bere: architects’ skill in creating an impressive family home on this unprepossessing site won praise from our judges. They said: “For this small site the architect has been extremely inventive in both form and construction.” The zinc envelope of the street’s newest addition strikes a contrast with its beige brick Victorian neighbours. There is another big difference between Focus House and the surrounding homes: this house has been designed as a low cost, low energy, low maintenance version of the standard family home. On the ground floor is the general living space and dining area. Large Scandinavian-made sliding windows span the rear of the building, looking out onto a garden. At first floor level, there is a study, two bedrooms and a bathroom, in linear layout. A second floor contains a master bedroom. The house is constructed from an Austrian system using cross-laminated timber, with Foamglas insulation. The zinc skin provides a tough, durable exterior and further insulates the structure. The form and method of construction means that the house requires only minimal heating. A solar thermal installation allows the house to generate up to 60% of its hot water. |
