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 + 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
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).
-
Commune’s sustainable personal care products look ‘quite unlike anything else’
Commune’s Somerset-made products stand out in the sustainable skincare crowd. Madeleine Rothery speaks with the brand’s co-founders Kate Neal and Rémi Paringaux
By Madeleine Rothery Published
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
Tour the Natural History Museum’s new gardens, a Jurassic lark in London
The Natural History Museum in London has unveiled two new gardens, with resident dinosaurs, after a transformation led by architects Feilden Fowles
By Bridget Downing Published
-
Drama Republic moves into a colourful, handcrafted workspace in London
For the new creative HQ of production company Drama Republic, Emil Eve Architects remodels a warehouse into office space in London’s Holborn
By Léa Teuscher Published
-
Hideaway House in London features timber panelling inspired by the New York hospitality scene
The elegantly refurbished Hideaway House by Studio McW in London features timber panelling inspired by Philip Johnson’s The Four Seasons Restaurant
By Léa Teuscher 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