De Camaret House
London 2005
The clients' brief for this existing structure in a quiet London square was for a relaxed family
home which would also function as a comfortable context for art.
While the existing façade is retained with minimal
reworking, the interiors are reconceived as a series of meticulously
proportioned, light-filled spaces. From the street one passes into the
calm visual field of a lofty atrium. The play of light draws the eye
upwards, while a long view through the depth of the house and across
the garden reinforces the immediate impression of spatial generosity.
Accommodation is arranged with the main public spaces on the raised
ground floor. Kitchen and family living occupy the lower floor, with
private quarters for guests and family upstairs. Unusually the garden
is set at first floor level above a pool house, linked to the main
house by a courtyard - a dramatic outside room framed in stone and
glass.