Gianni Botsford creates roof-raising new London house in a back garden
Hunting for unexpected sites and backyard plots to build on is increasingly the strategy when it comes to creating new-build single family houses in London, where land prices and density push both clients and architects towards inventive design solutions. West London-based architect Gianni Botsford's latest residential design is a case in point; it’s a spectacular contemporary home hidden in the back of a row of Victorian villas near Notting Hill.
House In A Garden occupies the space of an old bungalow, which was in need of updating, when the client bought the lot and called upon Botsford to design his dream home back in 2010. Careful to ensure neighbouring buildings were not obstructed, while the new structure gets enough natural light, the architect worked from the ground level and below, digging down two floors to craft a spacious family home. ‘Now, even though the house is in the middle of London and surrounded by many existing structures, when you are in the house you can barely see anything around you apart from the sky and the courtyard gardens', says Botsford.
Craefully placed courtyards bring light deep into the lower levels. Photography: Edmund Sumner
The house features an open-plan living space on the ground level, which unites an entrance lobby, kitchen, dining and sitting areas. Two sides are glazed and look out to green, landscaped patios with white marble flooring that cleverly reflects sunlight into the house. More patios cut vertically downwards, bring light deep into all areas. One level down is the master bedroom suite (including a bathroom and wardrobe space), along with an extra bedroom and bathroom.
The deepest level is reserved for entertainment with comfortable seating that becomes a cinema room at the touch of a button. Through a glazed wall, visitors can peak through to the spa next door, featuring hot tub, steam room and a particularly atmospheric lap pool, lit theatrically from cut outs on the ceiling.
However, the house's most defining feature by far, is its impressive curved roof. Made out of glulam beams that have been individually curved to perfection and topped by a further skin of copper cladding (which in fact follows a different curvature to the one created by the beams, so as to better accommodate elements such as guttering as well as the neighbour’s rights of light), this roof not only provides a functional shelter for the residence, but becomes a key centrepiece for the whole design. Surprisingly, perhaps, the roof is fully handcrafted. ‘We initially thought we'd make the roof's complex structure digitally using CNC cutting techniques, but in the end it was fabricated using old fashioned handcraft', explains Botsford. ‘We found a workshop in Northern Italy where it was produced by hand and then transported in parts to London.'
Materials were carefully chosen throughout, with Dinesen wood warmly enveloping the more private living areas, and marble used for several more ‘public' parts of the house and areas where the indoors meet the outdoors, such as the patios. Meanwhile the roof's copper is echoed inside in the form of a bespoke kitchen, which however is not planned to weather in the same style as the exterior, so will remain eye-catchingly reflective, creating an added focal point on the ground level. Nearly everything inside is bespoke – from the bathtubs, which are cut from chunks of marble, to cabinets and the two floating staircases (one out of timber and one out of metal); making this home a real, and quite literally, hidden, London gem.
INFORMATION
For more information visit the website of Gianni Botsford Architects
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).
-
Explore Cornwall's cosiest coffee shops
Cornwall is known for its natural beauty and stunning landscape, here is our pick of coffee shops to enjoy the views and refuel
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Maude’s Brâncuși-inspired sex toys go on display in a new Paris exhibition
Maude’s design-led vibrators are now on display at Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, as part of ‘Private Lives: From the Bedroom to Social Media’. Brand founder Éva Goicochea talks to Wallpaper* about partnering with the museum and opening up cultural conversations around sex
By India Birgitta Jarvis Published
-
‘I was captivated by the idea of merging two iconic brands’: Nigo on his 1990s-inspired collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz
Unveiled at Moncler’s ‘The City of Genius’ event in Shanghai this past weekend, Japanese fashion designer Nigo unpacks his three-way collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz, which includes a play on the G-Class alongside a fashion collection in his eclectic style
By Jack Moss Published
-
The Museum of Shakespeare set to open in east London
The Museum of Shakespeare puts the remains of the ancient Curtain Playhouse at the centre of 'The Stage', a new urban development in the heart of Shoreditch
By Smilian Cibic Published
-
Paddington Square transforms its patch of central London with its 'elevated cube'
Paddington Square by Renzo Piano Building Workshop has been completed, elevating a busy London site through sustainability, modern workspace and a plaza
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Architectural car parks to drive into, in the UK and beyond
Architectural car parks form an important part of urban infrastructure but can provide a design statement too; here are some of the finest examples to peruse, in the UK and beyond
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Architectural Association's newest show uncovers the architectural legacies of rural China's lost generation
The Architectural Association’s ‘Ripple Ripple Rippling’ is not your typical architecture show, taking an anthropological look at the flux between rural and urban, and bringing a part of China to Bedford Square in London
By Teshome Douglas-Campbell Published
-
Into the groove: Henriksen House is the UK’s first home extension featuring exposed clay block walls
Architect Michael Henriksen uses textured clay blocks, cork flooring and self-built joinery to transform his family home in St Albans near London
By Léa Teuscher Published
-
This unassuming London house is a radical rethinking of the suburban home
Station Lodge by architect Andrei Saltykov in South West London offers a radical subversion to regional residential architecture
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Join our tour of London Zoo, its modernist architecture and more
London Zoo is a well-established magnet for younger visitors, but there's plenty for the architecture enthusiast to admire too; our tour explores its modernist treasures for guests of all ages
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Load into this reimagined Fortnite cityscape, courtesy of Zaha Hadid Architects
A collaboration between Epic Games and ZHA, Re:Imagine London brings the architects’ modular forms into one of the world’s most popular multiplayer games
By Jonathan Bell Published