Triangle House is London-based practice Child Graddon Lewis’refurbishment and extension of a small infill site in Kentish Town, London, transforming a gloomy and disusedsmall officeinto a naturally lit, 3-storey house. The design has been meticulously composed to embrace the triangular footprint and existing character of the site, creating a building that makes efficient and functional use of space and natural light.
To achieve this, the scheme adopts a split-level internal arrangement with a higher front level and lower rear level. This enabled the creation of valuable amenity space in the form of a south east-facing, private terrace just below roof level. At the front, a semi-enclosed courtyard serves as a private front winter garden – setting the main entrance away directly from the street. This intermediary space also provides ample room for cycle storage.
Internally, the ground floor level is open plan with the kitchen and living spaces lit by natural daylight entering via a large glazed roof at the front end of the plan and the new secondaryskylight located at the rear. The first and second floors comprise a total of 3 bedrooms,all designed to exceed London Plan standards with en suite and bathroom provision –accessed via a staircore that wraps upwards through the building, eventually leading to theaforementioned roof terrace.
Externally, the form detail and scale compliment the street elevation, while ensuring the building enjoys a unique character in its own right.Anthracite paint is utilised to highlight the entrance, alongside the pilasters on the external wall.
The dental course brickwork employed in the parapet detail is an understated yet physical reference to the history of the neighbouring Victorianfactory building, which from 1840 until 1965 was the proud home of Claudius Ash & Co – formerly the largest manufacturer of false teeth in Europe.
Architect’s View:
“Triangle House is a contemporary extension to a converted Victorian warehouse located in Kentish Town, London. Challenged with a constrained urban site and a triangular footprint we sought to increase the existing height, creating a more efficient use of the site while being guided by the decorative elements of the neighbouring building.
“The proposal evolves around extending the existing one storey side unit of the Victorian warehouse upwards to continue the elevation along the overall site, providing a new three-bedroom, five-person residential home. From the very beginning we set this project to be an ambitious showcase of creativity with meticulous attention to detail, while being sympathetic to the conservation area the site sits within.
“Referencing the Victorian warehouses window details was key in creating a holistic, contemporary extension to the elevation, from the number of window panels to the vertical and recessed brick placement. The dentil soldier coursing also alludes to the warehouse’s previous use as a false tooth factory.
“To tie back to the neighbouring elevations with the existing levels we created a split-level plan, with the rear of the plan sitting lower than the front. This allowed for a south facing roof terrace to the rear of the site.
“In order to preserve the character of the existing gable end, we stepped back the circulation zone. This break in the elevation allowed the transition from traditional to contemporary to be harmonious, while using a zinc cladding to enhance this move.”
Sophie Montague, Architect, Child Graddon Lewis
Team:
Architect: Child Graddon Lewis
Structural Engineer: Conisbee
CDM Co-ordinator: Child Graddon Lewis
Approved building inspector: Salus
Main contractor: PG Building Services Ltd
CAD software used: Revit
Energy Assessor: ERS Consultants Ltd
