Architecture Wednesday: Fitzroy Park House

This is a new home, built on the site of an older home from the 1950s, in North London within the Highgate Conservation area.

The house is surrounded by natural landscape with its second floor cantilevered out and floating among the trees, with views to Hampstead Heath and beyond. To maintain that sense of park-like living, the home is set back from Fitzroy Park with a minimal stone and metal bridge, allowing for the mature trees to be saved.

The bridge leads into the heart of the home and opens up to views over a double-height living area open to the garden level. Glass doors blur the boundary between inside and out, with stone paving extending into the landscaped garden which gently curves around the house.

The living area flows into the  dining room and kitchen, which also open to the gardens; a set of stone stairs leads to a small swimming pool, reminiscent of the nearby Hampstead ponds nearby. Material references for the house also reflect the setting of the site, with cedar fencing and oiled Iroko balconies contrasting with the Accoya timber walls painted dark grey to enhance the limestone façade. Inside the colors and textures are softer and warmer, with oak ceilings and limestone floors.

For the bedrooms, timber is brought inside for the warmth, while the bathrooms are clad in limestone. Lighting throughout the house is minimal, washing walls and ceilings with soft warm reflected light, while the outside garden lighting illuminates planting and trees to avoid the effect of the glass walls turning to mirror and only reflecting the interior.

The home has a discreet presence from the road and steps down into the garden to fully embed it within the landscape, making the Fitzroy Park House both private and open.

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