This curved brick home by Flawk blends quiet sophistication and playful details

Founded by Bartlett graduate Ashley Law in 2022, Flawk is a small-scale property developer that specialises in transforming underloved sites into thoughtful homes with a focus on craftsmanship and creativity, and a light environmental footprint. Its portfolio includes a Whitechapel home with tactile details, a Stoke Newington brick townhouse, and this curved creation, Ronda, just completed in Gospel Oak.

Explore Runda, a new brick London house by Flawk

Like Flawk’s other projects, the three-bedroom, 128 sq m corner house is filled with bespoke fixtures, showcases pieces by young designers, and replaces a previously neglected, weed-filled urban pocket. Law found the site – a former brickworks adjoining a 1960s Powell & Moya terrace within the Lamble Street Estate – at auction, and was heavily inspired by its immediate context to create an innovative and sustainable family home.

The site is surrounded by ‘modernist flats, terraced houses, Victorian homes and infill housing by Peter Barber, and the design of Runda acts as a bridge between these various typologies,’ explains Law. ‘The existing site has a gentle curved form which acts as a softening edge to the crossroads the house is situated on. This curve is further incorporated into the design through playful porthole windows, gentle curved ⁠partitions and ceilings, giving the home a uniquely sculptural feel.’

As well as a curved corner, the infill plot had a tricky shape with tapering sides – nothing was parallel or perpendicular. ‘⁠The awkward shape presented quite the challenge in how to design a spacious family home,’ explains Law. ‘And the building process was particularly difficult due to the tight constraints of the site. Our neighbour, an architecture academic, was really kind to allow us to use a portion of her garden for materials storage and site amenities. Of course, in exchange, we also helped her out on parts of her ongoing renovation.’

The history of the site as a brickworks was a key reference for the design, and the new brick façade is particularly striking. However, the bricks are only used as external cladding: the structure is actually a low-carbon timber frame. Paired with a green roof and air-source heat pump, it means the building’s CO2 emissions will be over 62% lower than required by regulations.

Animated by windows in various shapes and sizes, the curved façade features bricks in two different tones, helping to connect it to the adjoining terrace homes. ‘It is important for us to respect the local context, and thus the height of the darker bricks match the height of the neighbouring buildings, and our windows are in line with the neighbouring windows,’ says the architect. A lighter toned brick on top also helps reduce the massing, and nods to the brick firing process.

Another reference point was the flowing curves of Antoni Gaudi’s architecture. ‘I love Gaudi's interior wall and ceiling forms; I really admire the fluidity,’ says Law. ‘That idea is something we've embedded within the project, of course, in our own design language.’ And given the Catalan architect’s love of trees, it’s fitting that the house is entered through a front garden planted with a hawthorn tree.

It is best admired from the tall window in the open-plan reception area, which is filled with natural light bouncing on the crisp white walls and oak floorboards. A wood-panelled wall conceals under-stair storage and unfolds to create a separation between the entrance and living room when needed.

‘It was very important to us to have tall ceiling heights on the ground floor, opening up the space,’ says Law. ‘We also created a generous hallway on the first floor with a large rooflight above, flooding the space with natural light. The curve motif throughout also helped soften the strong angles of the sides and rear boundaries of the site, enhancing the 'open' feeling.’

Connecting all the different spaces and floors is an eye-catching staircase, built by Graeme Spencer Smith and illuminated by a porthole window and skylight. ‘I love looking up from the first-floor landing area, you see our playful stainless steel and oak balustrade, with our window constellation as the backdrop,’ says Law. ‘There's a lovely curve framing the skylight and the most special thing for me is how the light dances and casts different shadows at various points in the day, kind of like a designed 'clock' through shadows, and I find that such a nice surprise.’

The playful design aesthetic continues throughout the house, which includes a first floor with two double bedrooms, an ensuite and bathroom, and a top floor with a main bedroom suite and private balcony with views over Hampstead Heath. Everywhere you look are interesting details: Flawk also functions as a platform to commission and support local emerging makers.

The pared-back palette and bespoke joinery throughout is paired with fabrics by Isabel Farchy and lights by Freddy Tuppen and Findere. Materials have been selected with care, and include smooth, polished plaster, as well as travertine mosaic floors and reclaimed marble surfaces in the bathrooms.

Designed and fabricated by Flawk, the kitchen combines panels of pine, oak and cherry cabinetry with slim stainless-steel worktops. Unique touches range from a bespoke concrete ‘bean’ corner counter referencing the site’s geometry to carefully chosen painting by Sophie Vallance Cantor. Artworks were selected for the space with the help Miłość Gallery in east London.

Building on the site’s history as a kiln, Flawk worked with STORE Projects’ after-school programme supporting young people from under-represented backgrounds pursuing creative courses. Students learned physical modelling, 3D scanning and ceramic casting to create the home’s hand-made ceramic knobs and handles – the literal ‘handshakes’ of the building.

Flawk worked on the project with long-term collaborator Nikjoo, a practice founded by architect and design director Alex Nikjoo. He dealt mostly with the building framework and layout, while Law focused on the interiors and the bespoke interior details. Nevertheless, the process was a true dialogue.

‘We work in a very intertwined and layered way,’ explains Law. We both sketched the plan layouts for the architecture, were both present on weekly site visits, and both contributed and discussed our opinions at every step of the process. We work in a very conversational and communicative way, and I think we both really value our relationship, to the point that Alex joined Flawk as in-house architect halfway through the project.’ Together, they are currently working on a few ongoing projects, some for clients based all over the world.

flawk.co.uk