Garden Apartment
London, UK, 2004—2007

The project is for the conversion of two single storey flats into one duplex apartment with a central internal lightwell and garden. Living and sleeping spaces are situated around the lightwell, visually connecting them with the sky and one another. The central, enclosed garden on three levels is designed as an atrium, with a large opening skylight, the space is planted on the lowest 'living' level; it includes a swing above; before breaking out onto a roof terrace. The space brings the outside in – a garden ascending through the house. In the summer the skylight above the garden can be retracted to allow fresh air to flood into the property and is left open as much as possible. A white steel stairway built within the atrium climbs from the main living areas to the bedrooms and then further up to the roof. Below the skylight a metal grid mezzanine is installed so that when the skylight is fully open the access deck becomes an outdoor terrace. Open to the sky and bordered on all sides by the roof, it is a totally private space with views over London: high up and invisible from the road, most of the traffic noise is completely lost.