Laura Dewe Mathews > Box House, London

The site changed hands and uses a number of times over the following 100 years, then in 2008 I purchased it, and, in discovering the history of the site, was drawn to assemble yet another box inside the original envelope of the factory.

The one bed, new-build house was recently completed using a cross-laminated timber super structure, placed inside the existing perimeter brickwork walls and rising up out of them. The timber structure has been left exposed internally. Externally the palette of materials is limited to the original brickwork, round ‘ancy-butt’ western red cedar shingles and galvanised steel flashings, window frames and window reveals. The soft shape of the shingles contrasting with the crisp edges of the galvanized steel.

The form of the proposal was a response to the constricted site, with neighbours’ rights to sunlight, daylight and privacy all to be respected. Consequently the only elevation that could have any windows was the north facing, pavement fronted elevation, so the proposal countered this with large south facing roof-lights, added to this, light is brought into the main living spaces via a new private yard.

The result is a small yet generously proportioned house. At ground floor level it retains the openness of the original workshop while feeling a sense of separation from the street immediately adjacent.