'The publicity surrounding Prince Charles'
blitz against the post-war development of London
- moderism, carbuncles and the like - has been
bad for architects. On the domestic front they
are often accused of designing homes which
have innovative designs but are uninhabitable.
'The house shown here is the home of
architect Richard Nightingale, designed by
him and his partner, Hugh Cullum. Richard bought
his plot in Belsize Park five years ago; it
was an infill site in a street of large Victorian
villas. At the time it seemed that all his
friends were buying derelict houses and restoring
them and they were forever peering behind crumbling
plasterwork or an ancient sink to discover
more costly decay.
'So Richard Nightingale determined to
start from scratch to find a site to fill -
with a new building. Given that the house next
door is a four-storey Victorian property, light
years apart in style from his, the two seem
to sit happily together. Planning constraints
restricted the height of his house to the top
porch of its lofty neighbour.
'The foundations had to be dug deep to
achieve two storeys within the height restriction.
The building has been designed to complement
the older house and the windows, while far
removed from a Georgian sash, are aligned in
height and proportion. It is a small house
with big ideas. There is nothing cottagey about
its design, although it measures only 14' wide
by 40' deep.
'Nightingale and Cullum wanted to create
a generous feeling of space within this planning
constraint. This they have achieved by designing
a large, symmetrical, single-storey living
room in the centre, from which all other areas
feed off. This is capped by a large skylight.
'The kitchen at the front and the bedroom
above have windows set at an angle to bring
maximum light and to direct approaching visitors
to the main entrance, which is at the side
of the house. At the back, a curved double-height
window creates maximum light and an easy boundary
between the house and the small garden beyond.
'There are two bedrooms: the guest bedroom
and bathroom are the only two enclosed rooms
in the house. The main bedroom, like the next
door study, is open to the balcony which surrounds
the central space on the first floor.
'The kitchen is warm and functional:
the sink and work surface are made of dark
green moulded terrazzo flecked with red. The
unit doors are of MDF with an oak veneer. The
same look is carried through to the living
area. The surfaces are finished with an inlaid
strip of aluminium and edged with solid oak;
the floor is made of polished green Cumberland
slate and bordered with oak.
'The effect of the living-room floor
is suprisingly warm - literally, because there
is under-floor heating; the colour is rich
and earthy. The effect of the stone is softened
by a cracked glaze, but this hard, taut, no
frills finish forms the character of the house
and adds to the sense of the space.
'In creating such a huge hole in the
centre of the house and losing so much potential
floor area, the architects may have reduced
an already restricted space. But the opposite
is true. the spacious living room and the minimal
study, dining and sleeping areas enhance this
effect.
'Richard Nightingale is pleased with
his house, both as his home and as an architectural
exercise. He has created an unusual town house
which is both masculine and comfortable. It
has grandeur on a small scale and gives a lie
to the old saying that architects design houses
that they do not have to live in.'
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