31/44 Architects’ red-brick take on the Victorian terraced house shortlisted for RIBA House of the Year

One lucky Victorian terrace in London’s leafy neighbourhood of East Dulwich ends in a climax of red bricks with this solidly assertive new-build house designed by 31/44 architects. The red brick is drop-picked from the street, connecting it to the classic urban London vernacular, yet turned-up in impact through the contemporary colour-blocking approach to material.
Architectural detailing cleverly references its Victorian neighbours – through its patterned pre-cast pigmented concrete panel and arched entranceways, yet it’s very much a house of today with a sculptural red-brick chimney, double-height hallway and polished concrete floors.
Externally it measures up to the two-storey terrace, yet inside it opens up into a complex plan designed around several challenges including a kink in the road and the angled flank of the adjacent house.
Exterior detail of the bold facade of the Red House.
A series of courtyards were formed by the architects to bring light and green outdoor space into the plan of the house, so once inside it’s a private world. A white-painted timber stair detailed with shadow gaps and vertical lines of cladding is the central artery of the home, casting light through the interior.
While beautiful, the house is also built for modern life – with practical space for coats and shoes in the hallway, plenty of concealed storage space and well-sized bedrooms and bathrooms. It was commissioned by developer Arrant Land for the current house market, and joins a movement by London-based developers to densify the city through fine-grain increment.
Confident in its contruction, yet considerate of its neighbours, The Red House’s unique balance of qualities have earned it a spot on the RIBA shortlist for the 2018 House of the Year.
The Royal Institute of British Architects 2018 ‘RIBA House Of The Year’ award will be announced on 28 November 2018
INFORMATION
For more information, visit the 31/44 architects website
Harriet Thorpe is a writer, journalist and editor covering architecture, design and culture, with particular interest in sustainability, 20th-century architecture and community. After studying History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Journalism at City University in London, she developed her interest in architecture working at Wallpaper* magazine and today contributes to Wallpaper*, The World of Interiors and Icon magazine, amongst other titles. She is author of The Sustainable City (2022, Hoxton Mini Press), a book about sustainable architecture in London, and the Modern Cambridge Map (2023, Blue Crow Media), a map of 20th-century architecture in Cambridge, the city where she grew up.
-
Monument Athens is a Greek architectural icon reborn
Monument Athens is a hotel housed in a historic Greek structure redesigned by local architecture studio MPlusM
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Bee my love: Chaumet draws honeycombs in fluid gold and diamonds
Chaumet’s new additions to the ‘Bee My Love’ jewellery collection nod to the jewellery maison’s heritage
By Hannah Silver • Published
-
Discover the newest jewel on the Amalfi Coast
The Anantara Convento di Amalfi Grand Hotel draws from traditional design codes
By Hannah Silver • Published
-
A Trellick tower apartment’s contemporary makeover
A Trellick tower apartment gets a contemporary makeover by architecture studio Buchholzberlin and interior designer Peter Heimer
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
The Arbor House brings quiet minimalism to a suburban Aberdeen site
The Arbor House by Brown & Brown is a low-energy home in suburban Aberdeen that brings calm and minimalism to its sloped site
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
LFA 2023 kicks off, celebrating togetherness and common ground
The London Festival of Architecture (LFA) 2023 is launched today, putting the spotlight on its theme, 'In common'
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
New Practice’s architecture draws on kindness and collaboration
New Practice co-founders Becca Thomas and Marc Cairns talk us through their Glasgow- and London-based studio’s ethos, projects and plans for the future
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Don’t Move, Improve 2023: discover house of the year and London’s best homes
The Don’t Move Improve 2023 winners have been revealed, chosen from a refined selection of 15 homes, as the judges announced the Home of the Year alongside seven more category gongs
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
A Mayfair coach house reborn through warmth and craftsmanship
A Mayfair coach house is transformed through colour and light by Studio QD and Holloway Li
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
2023 British Pavilion offers diverse and dynamic installation at the 2023 Venice Biennale
The 2023 British Pavilion, 'Dancing Before the Moon,' contributes a triumphant blend of ritual, music, and cross-cultural pollination to the biennale’s ‘laboratory of the future’
By Jonathan Bell • Published
-
Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement 2023 awarded to Nigerian artist-designer Demas Nwoko
We caught up with the recipient of the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement 2023 at the Biennale Architettura, Nigerian artist-designer Demas Nwoko
By Ellie Stathaki • Published