Harper Road – London

Our project in Harper Road, SE1  has broken ground and works have commenced on site. Despite the cold snap, footings are being poured and works are proceeding well with local contractor STANDAGE (http://www.standage.co.uk/) appointed as the main contractor.

The project is a series of new wintergarden’s and internal refurbishment works to 3 adjacent terrace properties. The wintergarden installation will be undertaken by the Caulfiled conservatory company (http://www.caulfieldcompany.co.uk/)  who are supplying and installing bespoke wintergardens by Solarlux http://www.solarlux.co.uk/en/pub/index.cfm which are being fabricated in Germany.

It’s always nice to hear that people like what we do! This is the second time in recent weeks that we have had positive comments on one of our projects up for planning.

Last night we were invited to the opening event at our recently completed attic music studio project in Archway, North London.

The clients were delighted with the space and it was a real pleasure to hear such talented musicians making full use of the acoustic insulation. …The neighbors were almost disappointed that they could no longer listen to the practice sessions through the wall…

..shortly after our Courtyard House appeared in London’s Evening Standard we were approached by a TV production company working for London’s new television channel London Live to see if we would by happy to feature on a new homes and property show. Intrigued (although somewhat nervous how we might be portrayed after a quick Google revealed that they produced programmes such as “Cowboy Builders“) we took the plunge and a few weeks later the production crew arrived for our 2hrs of filming..

On the day it was just me and the director-come-camera man. Being a ‘film-star’ newbie I was expecting some fairly explicit direction but it was more like, “okay, so just tell me something about the space we’re standing in right now” – point the camera and shoot the scene in a single take.. Unfortunately for me I was unable to see any of the footage or the final piece until it was shown on TV for the first time so I really wasn’t sure how it would look or how I would be edited. When I finally did get to see it I was relieved that it came across fairly well (I think). You can view a shortened version of the piece via the link below..

Here’s a picture I took today of our project in Gwendolen Avenue, Putney (SW London). The project has included a full strip out and remodelling of the interior together with a zinc clad extension (shown here). So the zinc is now up and we’re waiting for the oak framed glass doors that sit beneath it.. So far the work has been incredibly smooth thanks to our fantastic builder Peter..

I am happy to report that we have a happy client, a  happy builder and therefore a very happy architect! 😉

..and so London Open House is over for another year. Just before we opened this time Cecilia and I thought that perhaps we’d take a sabbatical from it next year – there is so much preparation and cleaning to do and with that on top of an ever increasing workload is quite difficult to manage (oh such a hard life 😉  ).. But, just as with the times before, as soon as we opened the door and our visitors started pouring in with so many encouraging and positive comments all such thoughts disappear and we remembered what a fantastic event this is and how privileged we are to be able to be a part of it! Thank you once again to Victoria Thornton & her team for organising this fabulous event..

It wasn’t all about Designcubed for us. We only opened on the Sunday so that we could spend some time on the Saturday looking at other Open Houses in our area. As usual we came away inspired and somewhat humbled by other’s work. Notably (and if you get a chance next year to visit them I recommend you do) The Coach House in Sydenham, and a fantastic (huge) house built in a backland plot around a 100 year old pear tree in Friern Road SE22.. Beautiful.

To finish here’s a shot of Eric admiring the steady flow of visitors (we had over 300) and deciding which one to do his full body waggle at in the hope of someone saying hello and throwing him a ball (plenty succumbed to his very persuasive invitation)..

Our Courtyard House in East Dulwich appeared as a two page spread in the Homes and Property section of London’s Evening Standard on 21st May 2014. A version of the article was also published on-line and can be seen here.

Many thanks to Phillippa Stockley who interviewed us and wrote the article and to Simon Maxwell who took the photographs and put us in contact with the paper.

..so it’s that tine of the year again – London Open House is open for business (20-21st September)…

Open House was started in 1992 as a small, not-for-profit organisation to promote public awareness and appreciation of the capital’s building design and architecture. The intention was to open up London’s splendid buildings to the general public who don’t otherwise have access

It’s out third year of participation and we will once again be opening the doors of our Courtyard House (East Dulwich) on the Sunday from 10.30am -5.30pm. Look forward to seeing you there!

Courtyard House: Homify.co.uk June 2014

Read the full article here

Courtyard House: Homebuilding & Renovating May 2014

The article was also published on-line and can be seen here: