Hermitage Lane, Childs Hill, London

Private Client

Situated on Hermitage Lane, Childs Hill close to Hamstead Heath in north London, this very tight suburban site contained a detached property constructed in 1933 and split into apartments.

The client’s brief required the demolition of the existing detached property and the construction of two semi-detached dwellings with each new dwelling comprising of a lower ground floor living room, ground floor living rooms, two first-floor bedrooms and two attic storey bedrooms.

Based on an exploration of the immediate context and an examination of the adjacent typologies, the proposed form emerged as an “urban villa” set back from the pavement; contemporary in its language and of its time. Three primary elements; the floating metal pitched roof over a solid brick enclosure with a projecting stone porch alludes to a pedimented period villa. The facade, composed of layers, is more formal to the front, but less ordered to the rear.

Sobriety and with careful consideration of proportion; on the street this is a two-storey villa with single-storey stone element projecting forward of a brick volume, engaging with the street. The street, the pavement, the gate, the front garden and the bay are all part of varying degrees of the experience and add significantly to the urban streetscape. The proposal emphasises those elements that protrude from the façade and form the rhythms and modelling typical of so many of London's domestic streets. The form is simple and elegant. Urbanistically, it makes an important gesture.