2020 is canceled due to the Coronavirus—but here’s your opportunity to take advantage of time spent at home.
Taking inspiration from barns, warehouses, Case Study Houses, and Japanese residential architecture, architect Marcus Lee and his wife, Rachel Hart—an architectural model maker—created a unique timber-framed home in Hackney, London. In the kitchen, the Corian kitchen island unit acts as a real hub with a television tucked away under the worktop. However, the kids sit at the island for breakfast and other meals, and when guests come, they end up sitting there and talking while the owners are cooking.
In the living room, a large window frames views of the pine forest in the north. The door leads to the south-facing outdoor terrace.
Sliding pocket doors can be used to separate the living room from the kitchen and dining areas. "Compared to houses in other European countries, the living room is relatively small and private. The kitchen is larger to accommodate most of the social life of the family as well as everyday rituals," notes Larsen.
One-way mirrored glass wraps around a portion of the home. "We wanted it to reflect like glass so that when you sit on the terrace, you see trees or the view in all directions—including when you look towards the house," says Larsen. The mirror effect is slightly distorted, and no birds have flown into the glass.
The angled windows emphasize the placement of the bench at the point where the house meets the natural slope.
Accessed from the upper level, the home is oriented northwest to southeast to capture views of the mountains towards the south and views of the pine forest uphill to the north.