Hatton Place EC1
This scheme was an intervention in a warehouse building on a street which was historically composed of bullion workshops for jewellers located behind the main jewellery street in the city of London. When our clients bought it, it had planning consent to be turned into a dwelling house but no consent to change the appearance of it. Our work consists of a new ground floor façade and a roof terrace.
During the week the street is busy with security vans, but at the weekend this part of the city shuts down; pubs close, restaurants aren’t open etcetera. Our clients’ brief for us was to have as much natural light as possible in the kitchen without compromising privacy. So to take advantage of this strange situation the large window opens creating a seat onto the street so that the inhabitants, a chef and a lighting designer, can place a table on the street and use it as an external room when they can entertain and have dinner parties.
The large glass has a mirrored film on it which enables inhabitants to see out without being overlooked, however, in the evening, when the street is deserted and the lights are on inside and it is dark outside you can see into the interior. The monolithic concrete wall protects the interior physically and psychologically and was cast against timber in places and in others against glass. The roof terrace is formed by a simple glass balustrade onto which the lighting designer enjoys projecting images of his work.
