Brown Urbanism's little triangle house is an ingenious urban infill

The Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024 features Brown Urbanism. Here's why the young practice is joining our annual round-up of exciting emerging architecture studios.

Who: Brown Urbanism

Richard Brown's Brown Urbanism was born some ten years ago, as a London-based architecture and urbanism design practice with a mission to 'create better places for people to inhabit that are inclusive, engaging and meaningful'. As part of this philosophy, the studio works on a range of typologies and scales, including commercial, residential, retail and hospitality; always with a focus on sustainable, low-cost, high-impact design.

'Simple, well-thought-through design that works for the client while creating distinctive and meaningful urban environments,' says Brown. 'We are interested in how design can better reflect, support and enable new ways of inhabiting and experiencing space. We are particularly interested in how the home can support the complexities of life’s requirements – from working from home and experiencing nature to treating the home as a performative cultural place.'

Drawing the practice's origins in the creative communities of east London, and blending that experience with Brown's years of research, community engagement and urban interventions, this is a practice that thrives in a pragmatic, yet highly creative approach. Its motivation is to highlight a range of cultural attitudes, sustainable ethics and practical material knowledge.

Brown adds: 'The biggest influence on the practice is inclusivity in all forms. Throughout all our project sectors, we are working hard to ensure that spaces, [both] public and private, are accessible, welcoming and easy to use for all. We are finding ways to make architecture as practice more financially accessible to a wider range of clients wishing to plan space for the future.'

What: Triangle House

Triangle House is an impressive, yet tiny triangular, self-built 40 sq m home in north London. Set within the confines of a former mechanics garage in West Hampstead, Camden, the award-winning project (claiming a prize in 2024 Don't Move, Improve) is compact and inventive, making the most of difficult, dense urban circumstances.

'We worked with the client to create a home of contradictions: small in plan and generous in volume; private from the street yet open and expansive in its interior outlook. We wanted to create a prototypical “work-home”, not just a workplace and not just a home. It would be a typology defined by neither identity. Instead, it would be a place that supports a range of activities,' Brown explains.

Why: Architects’ Directory 2024

Conceived in 2000 as an international index of emerging architectural talent, the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory is our annual listing of promising practices from across the globe. While always championing the best and most promising young studios, over the years, the project has showcased inspiring work with an emphasis on the residential realm. Now including more than 500 alumni, the Architects’ Directory is back for its 24th edition. Join us as we launch this year’s survey – 20 young studios from Australia, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Canada, China, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, India, New Zealand, Nigeria, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Tunisia, the UK, the USA, with plenty of promise, ideas and exciting architecture.

brownurbanism.com