Hidden House

A new single-storey residential property in Clerkenwell

Above former prison vaults in Clerkenwell (Clerkenwell House of Detention), sits a new build single storey dwelling. The new build residential property is in the centre of Clerkenwell's Green Conservation Area in London and is located next to a former Victorian School (Kingsway Place). Surrounded by Grade II listed buildings, the architects needed to design the property to nestle respectful among the existing architecture.

The plot of land that this property now sits on was once where the school caretaker's shed was situated. Conveniently, this area of land is defined by a perimeter wall which creates an element of privacy to the new single storey home. When designing properties in conservation areas the aesthetic of the building needs to meet stringent regulations. The fact that this extremely sensitive site had several surrounding walls came as a blessing because the new building home was slightly hidden from sight and therefore gave the architects slightly more 'breathing space' for their designs.

Credit

French+Tye Photography 

MW Architects 

Location

London

The interior design of the property featured many natural materials to help bring the homeowners closer to the natural environment. The interior walls were clad with light-toned wood which matched various items of furniture within the property. Generally, the interior design was a stripped-back design consisting of a polished concrete floor, wooden clad walls and minimally framed glazing (roof glazing and sliding door and window systems).

Hidden House is an elegant architectural design hidden within the thickness of a listed building curtilage wall. The glazing systems installed to this property successful connects the residents to the landscape. The large frameless structural glass rooflights flood the property with natural light as they enable the suns rays to penetrate straight down into the single floor living space.

IQ Glass installed various minimal frame sliders to this property as both window and door systems. A single-track minimal windows sliding door was installed to the property leading out into the owners private back garden. This sliding door was designed in a pocket door configuration which added sophistication to the door design as the slider can be hidden within a wall cavity of the building; resulting in a seamless opening between the indoor and outdoor living spaces.

Alongside this single-track sliding door, there was also a two-track sliding door installed which let from the light-filled living room out onto the raised, wooden decked outdoor space to one side of the property. Usually, siding door arrangements feature one fixed glass pane however with this design the sliding doors were configured to both slide in either direction.

The third minimal windows installation was a two-track minimal window as windows rather than sliding doors. These sliding windows measured an impressive 3m wide x 1.8m high which provided the homeowners with incredible views of their outdoor living space. These minimally framed sliding windows were also configured to slide in either direction to offer versatility to the occupants.

Hidden House is an award-winning residential design project, including an RIBA award and an AJ Architecture Award.