Arch architecture defines London house redesign by Flower Michelin
Arch House by Flower Michelin is a senstiive, graceful blend of high-tech music-studio technology with domestic space, elevated by the clever use of arch architecture
Arch architecture helped define the new design for the transformation of a typical London terraced house in the Wandsworth Conservation Area by architecture studio Flower Michelin. The practice, headed by Alex Flower and Chantal Michelin, took on the commission, which called for a complete remodel of a family home, including an interior redesign and extension (both to the rear, and below ground). The client, a music composer and their young family, were after extra space but also specialised interiors to cater for their professional needs – such as the ‘construction of a music studio for composing and recording in a new basement.’
The four-storey townhouse had to therefore balance both daily domestic family life, and a high-performance music studio, which means particular acoustic needs, insulation and technology specs. And while the best layout and functionality were determined largely by practical requirements, the architecture team still infused the scheme with creativity and aesthetic sophistication – working with soft colours, tasteful patterns, and the design’s defining red brick arches.
‘Each brick was hand cut and finished and bonded to a steel frame to form each stepped layer of the arch over curved glazing, to create an illusion of floating heaviness,’ say the architects. ‘These were then set within brickwork; a vertical bond to the side extension delineating the extension from the original footprint.' The rear elevation and its distinctive arches were made using the same red brick found on the front façade, with the aim of highlighting the importance of this new part of the building, the team notes.
Inside, plaster work in the ground floor hallway creates a sense of grandeur upon arrival, while further inside, pastel tones create a sequence of gentle, cocooning living spaces across the ground floor. Bedrooms and a study are upstairs, while the lower ground level is reserved for musical endeavours. The last presented a particular challenge. ‘It needed to be a distraction-free space for composing, acoustically designed for musical collaborations, operate as a listening booth for the film scores at +100dB, but still not feel like a “box in a box in a basement”,’ the Flower Michelin team say.
The answer, they reveal, was to design it as a room within a room, ‘balanced on giant springs and lined with a bespoke puzzle of acoustic panelling’. This, matched with the rest of the home's elegant colour and material palette, bespoke joinery, expert arch architecture and seamless aesthetic, makes for a family home that serves more than one purpose with ease – a perfect result to a complex architectural brief.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
Derek Jarman's House: Inside Prospect Cottage
A new book shines a spotlight inside Derek Jarman's Dungeness 'escape house'
By Caragh McKay Published
-
Warren Street Hotel is a colourful marvel in downtown Tribeca
The Warren Street Hotel boasts a distinct blue façade by Stonehill Taylor and eclectic interiors by Kit Kemp Design Studio
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Herbar’s barrier cream repairs skin damage using medicinal mushrooms
Herbar has launched The Barrier Cream, which harnesses the healing power of mushrooms and adaptogens to repair, soothe and protect the skin barrier
By Hannah Tindle Published
-
Ash Tree House offers a contextual approach to a north London site
Ash Tree House by Edgley Design is a modern family home in a north London conservation area's backyard site
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
In memoriam: John Miller (1930-2024)
We remember John Miller, an accomplished British architect and educator who advocated a quiet but rigorous modernism
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
River Wing at Clare College responds to its historic Cambridge heritage
University of Cambridge opens its new River Wing on Clare College Old Court, uniting modern technology with historic design
By Clare Dowdy Published
-
Camden Workshop offers flexible family space in a transformed north London warehouse
Camden Workshop, a transformed industrial space in north London, was designed by architects McLaren Excell to combine residential space and a creative studio for its owners
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
The Haydon shows off its dramatic stepped volume and triplex penthouse
The Haydon, designed by architects Acme, reveals the triplex penthouse within its dramatic, stepped volume in London’s Aldgate
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
This Oxfordshire house is a modern retreat designed to frame views of nature
An Oxfordshire house by Richard Parr Associates draws on its content to craft contemporary countryside living for its users
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
‘London Estates’ surveys the architecture and influence of the capital’s council-built homes
‘London Estates: Modernist Council Housing 1946-1981’, a new book by FUEL, is the perfect place to start for inspiration on how architecture can improve every sector of society
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
The Architecture Window opens in London offering space for ‘micro-exhibitions’
The Architecture Window by Unknown Works opens at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, creating space for creative exploration and fresh voices around the built environment
By Ellie Stathaki Published