A brick warehouse has been skilfully incorporated into the design of an east London residence and studio by Anthony Carlile Architects

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Photos
Anthony Carlile, Fernando Mañoso

Anthony Carlile Architects’ house and studio project is located at the end of a residential terrace in east London, on a site previously occupied by a dilapidated brick warehouse and a single-storey garage. Despite being in poor structural condition, it was decided that the warehouse was an attractive and charismatic part of the street, and should be redeveloped.

Buildings.

A new slab was cast inside the existing structure to increase the ceiling height. The living spaces are tied in and around the retained facade, with the original building fabric re-built, re-roofed and upgraded to modern standards. To the west side of the plan is a piled studio.

Buildings.
Buildings.
Buildings.

Ground- and first-floor plans; section

The site is surrounded at the rear by neighbouring gardens, and one of the principal challenges was to bring daylight deep into the building – particularly at ground level, where openings could not be accommodated in three of the four elevations. Part of the solution was to provide the open-plan staircase with large windows at first floor level. The windows also make it is possible to see right through the building, creating a connection between the studio and warehouse. Fire-rated rooflights facilitate a non-enclosed stair arrangement.

The plan is designed to be simple and flexible with storage and utility spaces integrated around the staircase. Each of the main rooms has more than one source of daylight. The studio faces a courtyard garden incorporating a pair of apple trees. Large metal gates provide access to the street. The bricks were chosen to match the existing building and were laid with natural hydraulic lime mortar. Inside, the pitch-pine parquet flooring was sourced from a demolished Derbyshire church.

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Architect
Anthony Carlile Architects
Structural engineer
Corbett & Tasker
Qs
PITA Construction Consultants
Contractor
Solmaz