This new-build private house in north London is designed to reflect the history and character of its site. From the outside it appears both new and old, a white modernist villa sheltering behind the semi-ruined remains of a brick town house.

Formally the house exploits its steeply sloping site by both stepping up in height and burrowing into the ground. It is approached by a pedestrian alleyway from where it appears partially buried, giving the house a curious 2/3 scale. A grid of openings - some blank, some void, one a window and one an entrance door - further this reading of the house as a fragment of something larger whilst also relating to the varied profile of roofs and parapets that characterise the area.

Internally the house has a complex spatiality that reflects Alberti’s concept of the house as a miniature city. It is organised around three individual ‘suites’ expressed as aedicular structures. These objects are scaled somewhere between large items of furniture and miniature buildings. One of them terminates in a rooftop studio with dramatic views over the rooftops. Thematically, the interior’s maze-like character of steps and objects relates to the context, repeating in miniature the character of walking around the local area.

This project was designed by  Ordinary Architecture