Introducing The Outside In: A London Terrace
A juxtaposition that architects often like to make a reality wherever possible is a relationship between the outside and in, in which this junction of the two spatial types allows the internal areas to introduce nature, elevating the space into one of freshness, with a greater sense of community.
Located in Barnsbury Street, London, this wonderfully light-filled four-bedroom house is listed with The Modern House and occupies a wonderfully private garden plot on the site of a former warehouse. As The Modern House describes:
- Matching Oak With Terracotta Concrete
The house is accessed via a stealthily designed gate, incorporated into the terracotta concrete façade of 168 Upper Street, designed by Amin Taha’s studio Groupwork. A walkway leads onto the private courtyard area where Staffordshire brown brindle bricks wrap overhead and encase concertinaed oak windows.
The front door opens to a large hallway with space for a study beneath the rising staircase. To the right lies a reception room, intended as an office space but would make an equally good fourth bedroom. Here, bi-fold doors open the area to the front courtyard. A hatch in the middle of the room provides access to a convenient cellar space with good ceiling height for storage and access. This room shares a Jack-and-Jill shower room with a further bedroom at the rear, also with the potential to be used as a gym or office. Between the two rooms, accessed from the hallway, is a utility-laundry room.
- Delightfully Open Staircase
An open-tread staircase of timber and white-coated steel ascends to the first floor, where a long landing connects the two principal bedrooms, each with its own en suite shower room. Light from above floods the centre of the plan and pours through open-latticed steel balustrades.
Engineered oak floors with underfloor heating, powered by an air-source heat pump, extend throughout and stunning exposed beams in a raw Douglas fir make every ceiling a defining feature of the house. The concertinas of the windows, while also a design feature, serve a dual purpose in cleverly obscuring views from certain angles, though most outlooks are filled with the green of neighbouring gardens.
The staircase continues from the first to the second floor and, along the way, offers a doorway to a study, occupying the space above the sheltered walkway. The second floor is arranged around a central terrace for external dining. At the southern end of the plan is an expansive living room and a separate guest WC, and at the northern end is an open-plan kitchen and dining space. Both rooms open directly onto the outside decking. The kitchen is set around an island and breakfast bar. Worktops are Corian, and appliances are by Bosch.
- The Outdoor Space
A steel staircase rises from one decked area on the second floor to a roof terrace, also decked in Redwood, with built-in seating and garden views in each direction. The northern section of the roof is laid in sedum.
Project / Brand: Kennedy Twaddale
Photography: The Modern House
Text As Written: The Modern House