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Architects: Trewhela Williams
- Area: 43 m²
- Year: 2022
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Photographs:Lorenzo Zandri
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Manufacturers: Chauncey, IQ Glass, Torc Pots
Text description provided by the architects. The project comprises a garage conversion and ground floor refurbishment of a courtyard house on a quiet cobbled mews in Primrose Hill, North London. Elizabeth Mews falls within the Belsize Park Conservation Area which means that any proposed street-facing alterations to the garage needed to be carefully considered so as to not harm the existing character of the mews. The repeating wood-paneled doors are a legacy from the mews' origins as stabling and coach accommodation and remain a key contributor to its overall character. It was therefore felt most appropriate to sensitively repurpose the existing door opening with a carpentry insert.
The garage door was reimagined as a finely crafted oak finned screen developed to reconcile the competing considerations of admitting daylight and ventilation into the home whilst providing privacy screening and solar shading. When viewed from the gateway to the mews, the flutter of fins retains an impression of solidity which unravels like turning pages on approach. This playful choreography of planes, volumes, and edges recalls the plywood sculptures of artist Donald Judd. The sculptural simplicity of the overall carpentry composition was achieved by concealed restraint fixings, tightly abutting joints, grain alignment, a unifying white oil finish, and frameless detailing of the glazing. Set back behind the central fins, this glazing unit can tilt as a window for cross-ventilation, or turn inwards as a door to allow the family cat to venture out.
The architectural approach respects the established fenestration order of the mews, whilst offering a quietly dignified evolution of its character. The enlivened frontage contributes greater visual animation, passive surveillance, and illumination to the neighborhood. The hope is for the project to set a positive precedent for other neighbors to follow suit with their own garage conversions and continue this incremental revitalization of the ground-level street scene.
Internally, the ground floor plan is re-organized on its front-back axis along a 9m long galley kitchen spanning the full depth of the property linking the street to an existing courtyard. Towards the rear, the kitchen expands into a dining area, before contracting into a small snug seating area beyond. The calm, contemplative interior is defined by tonal and textural nuances that help the space to read as a uniform whole. Central to this is a specialist Danish plaster, which unifies walls and ceilings with a fabric-like surface suggesting undefined textiles. The worktop is formed from a cloudy white Mugla marble; its weighty edge establishes a visual hierarchy over the delicately pressed metal shelf above. These two linear elements are separated by a band of Carrara-flecked terrazzo tiles. Color is used sparingly but with precision. The rosy warmth of the Douglas Fir planks is complimented by the brushed copper accents, the mottled burgundy leaves of the Acer Palmatum Fireglow, and rose quartz cushions to the snug.
