Lancaster Grove
This house was built for a developer who came to us with a site, a triangular car park at the end of a row of undistinguished 1980s terrace houses, and a planning challenge. He wanted to build a new house at the end of an existing terrace. However, the location was within the Belsize Park Conservation Area and, while the client aspired to build a modern house, we had to demonstrate that our design fitted in, both in form and materials, with the prevalent local type of late Victorian bay-fronted houses.
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While this gave us a somewhat sober street facade, the exposed flank of the building allowed a more inventive use of brick, following some lovely local examples of Edwardian rubbed red brickwork, and the possibility of a side- and top-lit staircase. Locating the stair at the side of the building allowed us to develop generous front to back living spaces and open up a double-height space onto the garden at the rear of the property. The ‘end’ of the triangular site became a ramp down to a basement car-park. We delivered an elegant, modern and generous building despite the difficult site and planning requirements.
