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Architects: Matthew Giles Architects
- Year: 2019
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Photographs:Logan Irvine Macdougall
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Lead Architects: Matthew Giles
Text description provided by the architects. The project involves the conversion a dilapidated industrial warehouse into a house for a young city professional. Located in the London Borough of Hackney, the palette of raw materials creates an industrial aesthetic in tune with the original building.
In transforming the space, Matthew Giles Architects created a new internal layout that improved the connections between the disparate spaces. We proposed a physical connection between the front section (built in 2008) and the main body of the building. This took the shape of an angled three-storey cast in-situ concrete wall.
The concrete wall provides a physical and visual link through the building both horizontally and vertically. From drawing a diagonal line on a floor plan, the concrete wall has become both a structural and visual element and is the driving force of the scheme.
New glazing in the form of large fixed and sliding panels and windows has been introduced, further improving natural light and views. The ground floor was lowered and reinstated as an exposed concrete slab continuing outside to the front courtyard and rear garden. The original brickwork was retained, which remains largely visible throughout.
The building is tactile and the practical arrangement of space and circulation has created a dynamic design with visual interest at every turn. The main living space is brightly lit by natural daylight pouring in from both sides of the plan, and lined by concrete. Elsewhere fair-faced brickwork and recycled timber enrich the interiors further.
