This London townhouse by Jamie Fobert Architects characteristics handmade bricks, copper panelling and Georgian-inspired window shutters.
Located at the end of a mews in the Bloomsbury conservation region, an spot dominated by 18th and early 19th-century architecture, the four-storey house occupies a prominent corner plot.
London-based mostly Fobert was asked to guarantee the creating did not dominate its surroundings. His response was to strategy a structure that looks deceptively smaller sized than it is, utilising exposed materials and simple details.
“The massing of the building, set-backs on the street facades and the use of fine quality brick and lightly completed bronze reply sensitively to adjoining and dealing with properties,” explained Fobert’s studio in a statement.
“With its third storey practically invisible from the street and one more degree fully hidden in the basement, the discretion of the house’s exterior belies the luxurious 600 square metres of residing area within,” it extra.
Named Levring Property, the home accommodates two residents – one from Denmark and a single from the USA.
It was the Danish client who advised using handmade bricks from Petersen, a firm based in Denmark. Yellow in tone, these match the colouring of standard London Stock brick. Shut up, it is feasible to make out the thumbprints of the companies.
The house’s interior is planned close to a generous lightwell that assures every single room can be filled with natural light. There are also several balcony terraces, responding to the clients’ want for indoor and outdoor area.
“As proposals were limited by right-to-light circumstances, the new house was created about a reinterpretation of the London lightwell,” explained the studio. “A series of volumes stage up from the basement to the leading of the residence, wrapping all around the lightwell and opening the entire residence to daylight.”
One of the house’s four storeys is sunken down below ground degree. The main function of this basement degree is a 14.5-metre-extended swimming pool, which is naturally warmed from ground heat via a series of deep boreholes.
Connected story: Jamie Fobert’s Luker Home tends to make the most of its site with subtle detailing
Reception rooms occupy the ground floor, while the very first floor accommodates a massive open-program kitchen and dining room, as well as the master bedroom and a review.
“Unusually, on the first floor, the kitchen and residing spaces neighbour the master bedroom, responding to a desire by the clients not to have to carry cups of tea up flights of stairs,” stated the group.
The uppermost floor homes a much more quiet lounge area that opens out to a south-facing terrace.
The building’s concrete frame is unveiled through the interior, complemented by timber specifics that aid to add warmth. These contain oak flooring, chunky staircase treads and furniture.
Other additions include Georgian-inspired shutters that open in a variety of stages, making it possible for residents to vary lighting problems, and a desk with an adjustable height that permits the user to be both seated or standing.
Fobert established his London studio in 1996, and has finished a amount of homes, both in the capital and elsewhere. Latest examples contain Luker House, which features pale brick walls and a sunken concrete floor.
Photograph by Olivier Hess
Levring House is one particular of 7 projects in the running to win the RIBA Home of the 12 months 2015 award, which recognises the ideal new residence design in the United kingdom. Other people named on the shortlist so far contain a flint-clad residence in Buckinghamshire and a west London home topped by vaulted skylights.
Photography is by Dennis Gilbert, except if otherwise stated.
Basement plan – click for bigger image 
Ground floor program – click for greater picture 
Initial floor prepare – click for larger picture 
2nd floor program – click for larger image 
Area – click for bigger image 
