Haringey brick bungalow shows good things come in small packages
This Haringey brick bungalow by Satish Jassal Architects works within tight constraints to bring a fresh take on small-house design in London
![london's haringey brick bungalow house interior showing living space with exposed brick](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4dubZGq5d9aA4oKsqSKjCa-415-80.jpg)
When Satish Jassal took on plans to build Haringey Brick Bungalow on a backland retail site behind north London’s Turnpike Lane, accessed only by a 1m-wide passageway, he knew he would have to rise to a formidable design challenge. The resulting house by Jassal's RIBA award-winning practice, is a carefully considered home that reimagines the possibilities for design in the constrained spaces typical of London.
The courtyard entrance
Haringey Brick Bungalow brings openness to tight spaces
Tucked behind a butcher’s shop amid a medley of retail and restaurant extensions, the home’s pair of pyramid-shaped sedum rooftops are intended to offer a more interesting outlook for residential neighbours.
Constrained not only by footprint, but also by access, this project called for Satish Jassal Architects to be innovative and imaginative in bringing a sense of openness to tight spaces.
The green rooftops as seen by neighbours
By offsetting the two volumes that make up the home's structure, external spaces have been carved out to form a courtyard entrance on one end and a rear patio on the other.
These outdoor areas provide different aspects and, along with rooflights atop each volume, allow natural light to pour into the home and illuminate interior living spaces.
The central living area
Stretching across both volumes is a wide, generous living, dining and kitchen area. Coffered glulam ceilings follow the contour of the pyramidal roofs, climbing up to 3.5m at the highest point, inviting a sense of scale into the home. Hanging timber ‘chandeliers’ add a tasteful touch of grandeur to the modestly sized interior.
The kitchen area
By continuing the external materiality of handmade red brick internally, complemented by warm oak tones and clean white surfaces, the architects created an effortless sense of coherence between the interior and exterior form.
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
The interior opens out to rear courtyard area
Through a series of meticulously measured design and construction choices, Satish Jassal Architects has embedded an unlikely light, porous and open living space behind a busy north London street. Haringey Brick Bungalow is a unique structure that speaks to the old adage – good things come in small packages.
The living area
Handmade red brick details
The courtyard entrance
Nana Ama Owusu-Ansah is a writer and photographer from London. She first wrote for Wallpaper* in 2021, in a series on the new vanguard of African designers practising in Africa and its diaspora. She is drawn to projects centring on decolonial approaches to art, architecture, as well as community and sustainability. Nana Ama read Economics and Spanish at University of St Andrews, and, as an avid linguist, is passionate about using accessible language to invite new audiences to engage in design discourse.
-
IM Pei's Everson Museum of Art gets a modern makeover
The East Wing of the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY has been given a contemporary refresh by emerging Los Angeles studio MILLIØNS
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Surrender to these six swim-perfect outdoor hotel pools
Discover the best outdoor hotel pools, from Amankila’s aquatic triptych by Ed Tuttle to Nicolas Party’s swimmable artwork at Le Sirenuse
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
We remember Kenneth Grange, the British industrial designer, who has died aged 95
Kenneth Grange was a colossus of post-war design. With a career spanning six decades, his mission for improvement touched everything from trains to fountain pens, taxis to toothbrushes
By Hugo Macdonald Published
-
An Uxbridge annexe by Bureau de Change is a design for effortless intergenerational living
Uxbridge Bower, a residential annexe in west London, is a contemporary addition offering both privacy and connection for the needs of a family
By Tianna Williams Published
-
‘Modern Buildings’ tours south-east London through a guide to post-war Blackheath and Greenwich
‘Modern Buildings: Blackheath and Greenwich’ is a detailed survey of a London borough’s rich trove of new modernist architecture
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Triangle House invites you to its inner world of colourful surprises
Triangle House by Artefact is a private home in Epsom, outside London, combining Caribbean style, colour and functionality
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Tour the refreshed Saint Andrew Holborn: an icon reveals its crisp new interior in London
DaeWha Kang reimagines Saint Andrew Holborn church through a sensitive architectural solution that blends tradition and modernity in London
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
A Suffolk house by Studio Bark pairs a fresh visual language with low-energy design
Suffolk house Water Farm is off-the-grid but defiantly on the map, a bold new object in the landscape with a strong visual impact and minimal carbon footprint
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Westminster Coroner's Court renovation delicately blends moments of softness and austerity
Westminster Coroner's Court gets a refresh and addition, courtesy of Lynch Architects and artist Brian Clarke
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
The Sherborne is Dorset’s new cultural hub
The Sherborne in Dorset has got a facelift by architects Spase, giving the cultural destination a new rooftop extension and flexible spaces
By Léa Teuscher Published
-
The Loom Club is a new London social and co-working hub with a ‘gentle’ twist
The Loom Club, designed by Kasawoo, is conceived to bring together local communities, home working, and leisure through a ‘gentle’ approach
By Ellie Stathaki Published