Beckenham Corner House

Located upon a corner plot to a quaint, looped residential street within an area of special residential character in Beckenham, the clients sought to redevelop an existing single-storey side garage to create a new two-storey residence to house elderly parents / grandparents within a separate, yet connected dwelling.

The site presented intricate complexities, notably the narrow site, the need to respect the inconsistent, yet richly detailed architectural context, and the need to respond to the differing street contexts to both sides.

The project sought to analyse the immediate Edwardian context of the local, adjoining and opposing houses, and reinterpret key details and features within a new, contemporary aesthetic that would result in an architectural development that was both contextual and distinctly modern.

A new charred-timber clad architectural form is defined through mimicking the proportions, scale, and rhythm of fenestrations, expressing the continuous horizontal facade banding at sills, window heads and eaves, and playing upon the prominence and rhythm of the roofscape, made up of regular front facing pitched gables.

Given the nature of the corner plot, the new house is designed with a curved, filleted corner, so as to create continuation across a single facade, as it flows from facing one street to another. Prominent windows are positioned upon each side so as to respect it’s frontage and presence upon each street. In contrast, linear garden walls create distinction between streets where they meet at an angular junction, utilised as a raised plantbed that softens the streetscape and creates a degree of privacy / screening.

The narrow house is designed with an open, social living, kitchen dining space to the ground floor, whilst the upper floor is designed with a master bedroom, dressing area and en-suite bathroom.