London's Don't Move, Improve! Awards 2019: The Chapel scoops top prize
London's Don't Move, Improve! Awards 2019: The Chapel scoops top prize
-
1/54 London's best home extension
'The Chapel' in Southwark by Craftworks architects has been named London's best home extension at the Don't Move, Improve! 2019 awards.
Edmund Sumner
-
2/54 First prize: The Chapel in Camberwell, south London
Finished last summer after five years, this four-bedroom, 2,475sq ft home hidden from sight had been a ruined, small oblong brick chapel of 1,650sq ft, abandoned, overgrown and near the point of no return.
Edmund Sumner
-
3/54 First prize: The Chapel in Camberwell, south London
Now, the Chapel includes a new lower ground level for bedrooms, a large ground floor living space with vaulted ceiling, and a mezzanine level inserted as a space for privacy.
Edmund Sumner
-
4/54 First prize: The Chapel in Camberwell, south London
The ‘tent’ roof allows for flexible living needs whilst bringing skyward views and maximising daylight.
Edmund Sumner
-
5/54 First prize: The Chapel in Camberwell, south London
In contrast, the ordinary brick exterior is almost as modest as it always was — except now it is watertight, shipshape, and surrounded by a young garden nibbling at and softening its edges. But inside are such riches and pleasure, homely yet awesome.
Edmund Sumner
-
6/54 Second prize
Stego in Southwark by Archmongers LLP
-
7/54 Joint third prize
Lauriston Road in Hackney by Gundry + Ducker
Andrew Meredith
-
8/54 Joint third prize
Lauriston Road in Hackney by Gundry + Ducker
Andrew Meredith
-
9/54 Joint third prize
Folded Wedge Townhouse in Lewisham by Russell Hunt Architects
Clive Sherlock
-
10/54 Joint third prize
Folded Wedge Townhouse in Lewisham by Russell Hunt Architects
Clive Sherlock
-
11/54 Most innovative
Loft Library in Waltham Forest by Arboreal Architecture has 40 metres of book storage
Juliet Murphy
-
12/54 Best historic intervention
Tower House by Dominic McKenzie Architects
Will Pryce
-
13/54 Best interior
Crouch End House in Haringey by Catriona Burns Architects
Adelina Llieve
-
14/54 Best use of materials
Kings Grove in Southwark by Al-Jawad Pike
Ståle Eriksen
-
15/54 Joint most cost-effective
Scissor Truss House in Lambeth by Studio MESH
-
16/54 Joint most cost-effective
Breakout Extension in Crouch End, Haringey, by KNOTTARCHITECTS
Diana Cotovan
-
17/54 Most sustainable
Reuse Flat in Hackney by Arboreal Architecture
A zero-waste renovation, reusing old materials and designing for the disassembly and reuse of those materials in the future
Agnese Sanvito
-
18/54 More shortlisted entries
16 Ewelme Road in Lewisham by uvarchitects
David Butler
-
19/54
Tile House in Hackney by Beasley Dickson Architects
Agnese Sanvito
-
20/54
Claylands Road in Lambeth by Conibere Phillips Architects Limited
Peter Landers
-
21/54
Claylands Road in Lambeth by Conibere Phillips Architects Limited
Peter Landers
-
22/54
Shad Thames Water Tower in Southwark by FORMstudio
Mike Neale
-
23/54
Shad Thames Water Tower in Southwark by FORMstudio
Mike Neale
-
24/54
Micheldever Road in Lewisham by Meme Architects LLP
Sam Grady
-
25/54
Micheldever Road in Lewisham by Meme Architects LLP
Sam Grady
-
26/54
Brockley House in Lewisham by SAM Architects
Da Feng
-
27/54
Algiers Road in Lewisham by Gruff Limited
-
28/54
Algiers Road in Lewisham by Gruff Limited
-
29/54
Mies X King George in Islington by CAN
Jim Stephenson
-
30/54
Hackney Extension in Hackney by Proctor & Shaw
Ben Blossom
-
31/54
The Black Curve in Bromley by Ar’Chic
William Eckersley
-
32/54
Dartmouth Park family house in Camden by Pardon Chambers Architects
Caroline Mardon
-
33/54
Dartmouth Park family house in Camden by Pardon Chambers Architects
Caroline Mardon
-
34/54
Dusheiko House in Hackney by Neil Dusheiko Architects
Architect Neil Dusheiko completely remodelled his family's home, designing it around the need for more light, space and generous storage, in their choice of materials.
Neil Dusheiko
-
35/54
Dusheiko House in Hackney by Neil Dusheiko Architects
The ambitious year-long project began last year. It included raising the low basement ceilings by a foot, which costs much less than digging down, the more common course of action. "It saved £60,000,” says Neil.
Agnese Sanvito
-
36/54
Dusheiko House in Hackney by Neil Dusheiko Architects
Neil designed the loft extension to hold a peaceful parental bedroom with an en suite bathroom. The glass-fronted shower has a skylight that slides fully open to the sky. "Imagine bathing in the open in the middle of London,” Neil says.
Tim Crocker
-
37/54
Roslyn Road in Haringey by Magri Williams Architects
Nicholas Worley
-
38/54
Woodworker's Studio in Islington, by Bradley Van Der Straeten
A lower-ground-floor extension, housing a woodworking studio, study, music studio and ample concealed storage.
-
39/54
Outhouse-In in Westminster by con | form architects
Simone Bossi
-
40/54
Montague Court in Hackney by IF_DO
-
41/54
Long House in Southwark by R2 Studio Architects
Andy Stagg Photography
-
42/54
Link Building in Southwark by Powell Tuck Associates
Christopher Horwood
-
43/54
Highbury New Park in Islington by Appleton Weiner
Lyndon Douglas
-
44/54
Highbury New Park in Islington by Appleton Weiner
Lyndon Douglas
-
45/54
Folded House in Wandsworth by Proctor & Shaw
Ståle Eriksen
-
46/54
Folded House in Wandsworth by Proctor & Shaw
Ståle Eriksen
-
47/54
Garden House in Hammersmith and Fulham by Teatum + Teatum
Luke Hayes
-
48/54
Garden House in Hammersmith and Fulham by Teatum + Teatum
Luke Hayes
-
49/54
Cornerstone House in Haringey by Merrett Houmoller Architects
-
50/54
3 Elm Close in Islington by Ulla Gala Architects
-
51/54
Levels Ten + Eleven in Westminster by con | form architects
Simone Bossi
-
52/54
Sash House in Westminster by Tigg + Coll Architects
Andy Matthews
-
53/54
Montague Court in Hackney by IF_DO
-
54/54
Step House by Bureau de Change architects
Ben Blossom
London is full of amazing buildings, the best of which infuse the ordinary with ingenuity. Good architecture transforms bricks and mortar into something to marvel at.
Finished last summer after five years, The Chapel is a perfect example. This four-bedroom, 2,475sq ft home hidden from sight in Camberwell, south London, had been a ruined, small oblong brick chapel of 1,650sq ft, abandoned, overgrown and near the point of no return.
Today, the dramatic, single upper room of this surprising house soars 20 feet, with a sculpted, angled white ceiling, apparently folded like crisp origami, in pearlescent hand-polished plaster with what looks like a high pulpit in oak, brass and plaster at the far end.
The large, rectangular space has 16 triangular windows parading along the pitched reclaimed slate roof, and 24 tall, thin vertical windows — 12 to each brick flank wall in churchly triplets — plus a giant sliding picture window with a glass Juliet balcony at one end.
Light enters from all angles, bouncing off the pleated ceiling to make constantly shifting bright patterns. And that “pulpit” actually holds a bathroom, utility room and storage, with a snug balconied mezzanine above, shaped like a freely drawn coronet and reached by little stairs like those a priest climbs to give a sermon.
A two-sided wood-burning stove adds a welcoming Scandinavian focus, as well as natural division, with seating one end and kitchen-living area at the other, where a bespoke oak island holds everything in drawers, including the fridge-freezer.
Downstairs, an enlarged proper-height floor dug into the sloping site replaces a small basement. Four serene bedrooms have Douglas fir floors, double beds, fitted wardrobes and access to individual outside spaces in a pleasingly monastic arrangement.
The two floors connect via a fumed oak staircase hugging one long wall. And outside, swathes of bee-beckoning plants, such as native foxgloves, lure insects and birds in a courtyard set not with slabs, but orange-coloured Corten steel.
IT'S AWESOME - BUT HOMELY
All this is a far cry from the dismal former chapel, a Thirties addition, mouldering behind a Victorian convent. It was never consecrated, perhaps because the Second World War intervened. Later it was a hostel, then an impromptu playground, and finally abandoned.
In 2012, architect-developer Craftworks, which owned the entire site, had just turned the convent into high-end houses and flats, but the crumbling yet picturesque chapel remained.
A few people asked about buying it, then in 2013, the parents of a young couple who’d bought one of the flats said they would like to turn it into their home. They bought it and gave the architects almost carte blanche to design it.
“We only met a few times, they were very relaxed,” says architect John Smart. “Their brief was just that they wanted good light, four bedrooms and some outside space.”
This simple request allowed his imagination free reign. Smart wanted to keep the ecclesiastical feel, to which end he suggested setting the bedrooms below, allowing one dramatic room above, which adds to the chapel quality.
In a conservation area but not listed, the chapel was overlooked on all sides bar one end, so it was always likely to raise objections about overlooking, and it was decided to sandblast all but the sliding window. In point of fact, this has enhanced the striking, diffused light, along with the occupants’ privacy.
The planners weren’t keen on demolition and a total rebuild, but the structure was so dilapidated that it was necessary. Even so, the basic dimensions were kept.
Initially, the planners rejected the triangular windows along the roof ridge, but the architects went to appeal and won. And thank goodness, because it is those windows set into their sharply angled rebates that make the inside such a revelation.
At last work began. The building was carefully dismantled and each brick was cleaned by hand — which took one person eight weeks — then reused, augmented with reclaimed London stock.
The roof is reclaimed Welsh slate. A second extraordinary feature is the polished lime plaster, a devil to apply neatly in the high, sharp angles of the ceiling, done by two specialists on platforms. After weeks of applying and smoothing it, it was buffed with wax for a luminous sheen.
Working with such a simple palette of timber, plaster and some marble tiles on the soaring chimney to the stove, the finishes are immaculate, for on sharp geometry like this, the eye is drawn to imperfection.
In contrast, the ordinary brick exterior is almost as modest as it always was — except now it is watertight, shipshape, and surrounded by a young garden nibbling at and softening its edges. But inside are such riches and pleasure, homely yet awesome.
GET THE LOOK
- Architect: Craftworks (craftworks.co.uk)
- Plastering: artisanplastercraft.com
- Polished plaster finishing: by Mike Wye Associates (mikewye.co.uk)
- Timber:thorogood.co.uk
- Stove: Stûv (stuv.com)
- Rubber flooring: nora.com
- Douglasfir flooring: dinesen.com
- Bathroom and fireplace hearth marble slabs: mandarinstone.com
- Chimneyand bathroom marble hexagon tiles: firedearth.com
- Dishwasher: fisherpaykel.com
- Bespokekitchenunits: smsveneering.co.uk
- Caesarstone kitchen worktop: stoneinteriors.co.uk
- Garden design: by Jane Brockbank Gardens (janebrockbank.com)
