Mutual Residential Property
In 2016, a North London residence underwent a dramatic transformation from its 1969 Foster Associates makeover to a sleek contemporary reincarnation, courtesy of Gianni Botsford Architects.
I stepped through the doors of this property in early 2016, joining the new owner and Patty Hopkins on a historic tour. Back in 1969, Patty, who was running her own projects alongside raising her family, had become the accidental project architect for Foster Associates, then a partnership between Michael Hopkins and Norman Foster.
Fastidious to the core, the new owner was keen to explore the origins and significance of the house in its cultural and architectural context. He even paid a visit to the Hopkins House, just around the corner, to further familiarize himself with this seemingly small project's profound impact during that avant-garde era. Tucked behind a row of terraces and accessible only via a narrow alleyway, the property, in its original form, was just a dilapidated Victorian cottage with an extension.
The 1969 extension showcased Foster Associates' penchant for integrating simple, modern materials and cost-effective techniques to create flexible spaces. The 'music room' extension, for instance, probably drew inspiration from past endeavors like the Eames House and the IBM Pilot Headquarters, with trimmings like exposed lattice beams and patent glazing.
Bypassing the cottage entirely, Gianni Botsford Architects opted to keep only the original extension as their blueprint. The new addition follows a similar footprint but boasts a significantly larger floor area, thanks to a new basement and a cleverly designed second floor. On the ground floor, the open-plan layout hosts a living area, kitchen, dining, cloakroom, and a spiral staircase.
Upstairs, the children's bedroom and family bathroom reside on the first floor, while the parents retreat to the attic floor with its modest bedroom and bathroom. The basement serves as a music practice room or cinema, boasting ample natural light and three-meter-high ceilings. The structure's substructure and superstructure seamlessly unite the new and old parts while offering a sense of tranquility.
The new addition boasts a refined palette of materials, notably aluminum, that creates a minimalist yet sophisticated aesthetic, in sharp contrast to the "off-the-shelf" approach adopted in the original extension. Environmental sustainability is subtly woven into the design, with features such as solar gain, natural shading, airtight insulation, and efficient energy systems.
Yearning to honor the past while embracing the contemporary, the project intertwines the spirit of the original cottage, the 1969 extension, and the new house, showcasing Botsford's innovative solutions to complex projects and offering a fresh layer in the evolving landscape of UK architecture.
The new owner, intrigued by the property's history, visited the Hopkins House to understand the profound impact of the seemingly small project on North London's lifestyle and architecture. In the new home-and-garden, environmental sustainability is integrated subtly through features like solar gain, natural shading, airtight insulation, and efficient energy systems, reflecting an evolution in the music of UK architecture.
