Tikari Works' Peckham Rye apartments feature calming wooden interiors
The Wallpaper* Architects Directory has turned 20. Conceived in 2000 as our index of emerging architectural talent, this annual listing of promising practices, has, over the years, spanned styles and continents; while always championing the best and most exciting young studios and showcasing inspiring work with an emphasis on the residential realm. To mark the occasion, in the next months, we will be looking back at some of our over-500 alumni, to catch up about life and work since their participation and exclusively launch some of their latest completions. London-based husband and wife team Nicola and Ty Tikari combine pragmatism and craft in a practice that fuses design, construction and property development.
Taking cues from the neighbouring building typologies, scale, daylight and privacy, Tikari Works created The Rye Apartments; a collection of ten units, set in the residential streets of south London. The new-build structures are linked by a concrete plinth on ground level and feel at home in their urban context, offering a nod to nearby volumes through shape and massing.
Set opposite Peckham Rye Park, and replacing a dilapidated two-storey post-war building and four garages, the project is not only formally respectful to its surroundings; it was also designed to be sustainable and support the environment too, explain the architecture studio's founders, Nicola and Ty Tikari.
The architects' choice of materials was key to this end. The buildings are clad in red masonry shingles externally, referencing surrounding brick colours, while internally they feature mostly wood, creating a soft, cocooning environment that calms the eye.
However, this was not a purely aesthetic decision. Aiming for efficiency in both energy and cost, the team opted for the use of a cross-laminate timber frame for the structure. This appears exposed in both load-bearing and non-load-bearing walls – as well as ceilings – creating a smooth, consistent interior. Meanwhile red quarry tiles create a colour pop in bathrooms and circulation areas.
As with many of their projects, Tikari Works acted as architect, developer and main contractor for The Rye Apartments. Its ambition is to create ‘exciting, sustainable homes, full of detail, craft and delight,' says the team. ‘Through this integrated design approach, the apartments represent an optimisation between commercial pressures, ease of construction and an architectural ambition to raise the quality of life of the end user.'
INFORMATION
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).
-
Inside Valentino’s glamorous new Sloane Street store, inspired by the art of haute couture
The latest in Valentino’s ‘The New Maison’ store concept opens on London’s Sloane Street this week, offering an enveloping marble and carpet-clad space of ‘intimacy and uniqueness’
By Jack Moss Published
-
Aesop’s Salone del Mobile 2024 installations in Milan are multisensory experiences
Aesop has partnered with Salone del Mobile to launch a series of installations across Milan, tapping into sight, touch, taste, and scent
By Hannah Tindle Published
-
Dial into the Boring Phone and more smartphone alternatives
From the deliberately dull new Boring Phone to Honor’s latest hook-up with Porsche, a host of new devices that do the phone thing slightly differently
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Timber-framed Wimbledon house is a minimalist, low-energy affair
A new timber-framed Wimbledon house is designed to blend into its traditional surroundings with a neat brick façade, careful massing and pared back interiors
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
London Science Museum’s Energy Revolution gallery champions sustainable exhibition design
The Energy Revolution gallery opens at London’s Science Museum, exploring decarbonisation through sustainable exhibition design by Unknown Works
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
This South Downs house stands as a testament to the value of quiet refinement
At one with the landscape, a South Downs house uses elements of quintessential country villas and midcentury gems with modern technologies
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Ash Tree House offers a contextual approach to a north London site
Ash Tree House by Edgley Design is a modern family home in a north London conservation area's backyard site
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
In memoriam: John Miller (1930-2024)
We remember John Miller, an accomplished British architect and educator who advocated a quiet but rigorous modernism
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
River Wing at Clare College responds to its historic Cambridge heritage
University of Cambridge opens its new River Wing on Clare College Old Court, uniting modern technology with historic design
By Clare Dowdy Published
-
Camden Workshop offers flexible family space in a transformed north London warehouse
Camden Workshop, a transformed industrial space in north London, was designed by architects McLaren Excell to combine residential space and a creative studio for its owners
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
The Haydon shows off its dramatic stepped volume and triplex penthouse
The Haydon, designed by architects Acme, reveals the triplex penthouse within its dramatic, stepped volume in London’s Aldgate
By Ellie Stathaki Published