This speculative project for a London Townhouse is intended as a ‘pattern book’ typology. It references the architectural language of Georgian London both on a building and an urban scale. As with the architecture of planned parts of the Georgian city, such as Bloomsbury, the individual house is designed to be primarily understood as a component within a larger figure and has the ability to be arranged in collective patterns of streets and squares. The model has the capacity to accommodate adjustments which would lead to subtle, enriching variation within the overall form. We have illustrated the project on a particular site in Islington which defines the houses as a street façade.

The houses comply with Sustainable Design Standards (SDS) and Lifetime Homes guidance and are scaled in relation to Housing Federation Space Standards. Elements such as a wide stair, which can accommodate a chair lift, and the higher ceiling of the principal living space, ‘civilise’ the house. The latter also allows us to consider its proportions in relation to the historic models to which it refers. Programmatic requirements result in the ground floor being brought forward to the street, offering a terrace to the principal bedroom and heightening the definition of the ground floor.

 

London is built within a clay valley and the brick facing of the houses reflects the city’s heritage. The ground floor is of white calcium silicate brick, which offers a taut and refined face to the street. Brick piers within this element define a rhythm to the overall façade, recalling classically derived models, emphasising the verticality of the proportions and protecting ground floor windows from the oblique gaze of the passer-by. Piers are replaced by a freestanding column at the entrances to the houses, defining pairs of porches, recessed into the façade. Above, the upper parts would be of a locally appropriate stock brick.