Financial Times Europe - 19.10.2019 - 20.10.2019

16 ★ FTWeekend 19 October/20 October 2019

House Home

the plot on which the house sits,

formerly the site of garages between

rows of terraces in gentrifying Kilburn.

The home is one of a growing number

of innovative houses erected on Lon-

don’s awkward spaces. These plots —

known as infill sites — sit at the ends of

rows of terraces, on the sites of garages

and car parks, even within the back gar-

dens of existing homes.

Infill development is not new. After

the second world war, swaths of London

were left as bomb sites, some of which

were later filled with council estates

that symbolised postwar social democ-

racy. But the new crop of architect-

designed homes is quite different.

Smaller infill sites, usuallyodd shapes

and large enough only for one or two

houses, were once considered too cum-

bersome to develop. “Leftover margins

of land are often left over for a reason.

They were — and still are — difficult to

apply standard house types to,” says

Will Burges, director of architects

(Main image

and above)

Alma-nac’s

Wedge House;

(right) In-

betweeney

House

Jack Hobhouse

The inbetweeners

Design Innovative|

architects accept the

challenge to fill London’s

awkward and forgotten

spaces with creative

structures. ByIdo Vock

Smaller infill sites, usually

odd shapes, were once

considered too

cumbersome to develop

Y

ou might almost miss Peri-

scope House. Its street-level

walls are constructed from

weathered brick nd if youa

fail to look up itmight be

any other terraced house. But on second

glance, the details jump out.

Architects Groves Natcheva have

placed a sapele-framed glazed lantern

in the centre of the structure, creating

the double-height space that gives the

house its name. At night, a gently arched

lighting strip glows from behind the tim-

ber. It looks like a mid-century light-

house adrift in suburban north London.

Once inside,a plywood staircase leads

to the basement, in contrast to the hard-

wood exteriors. Light floods in through

the elevated windows, illuminating

exposed concrete and brick walls.

Owner Gay McGuinness, who lets the

house to tenants, remarks that the din-

ing room is so spacious it could double

as a mausoleum.

These striking features are not design

for design’s sake. They are a function of

OCTOBER 19 2019 Section:Weekend Time: 16/10/2019- 17:41 User:elizabeth.robinson Page Name:RES16, Part,Page,Edition:RES, 16, 1