WILSON BARB RESIDENCE

The project is a conversion of two Victorian semi derelict buildings with adjacent rear gardens to one of them. The scheme integrates new architecture within the confines of the existing. The existing buildings are linked together with an internal courtyard, creating a living area, which contains the kitchen, the living room and the external living space. The bedrooms are located in the existing buildings, which give access to the house from Roman Road and Peary Place. The old brick Victorian buildings face the street front, the solidity of brick defining the privacy as well to the outside as to the inside, the new timber and glass lightweight construction expressing the new, creating an open, though, protected hub for the communal functions of the family. The choice of the materials has been developed to express the line between the new and the old, and between the public and private as well in the family functions as in the neighboring environment. The new part of the building is clad with untreated larch, which is a sustainable and eco-friendly material and will represent the process of the new part of the building ageing along with the existing. The glazed opening walls to the living area join the external and the internal spaces visually and physically. The scheme appreciates and celebrates the past adapting it to contemporary needs creating an inspiring modern living space.

Client: Justin Wilson and Tracy Barbe

Location: Roman Road London

Design Team: Steve Jensen, Graham Russell with Roy Lowe