Richard Rogers' 1960 House Renovated by Philip Gumuchdjian

Reviving Richard Rogers’ Wimbledon House to its former 1960’s glory, Philip Gumuchdjian and team have restored this modernist jewel into new residences and seminar spaces for fellowship recipients from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design. Showcasing Rogers’ signature use of bright and playful colour, his early concepts for industrialised housing and a pretty neat example of a fully glazed façade system, the house is widely considered an icon of its time and stands as an ode to continental modernism.

Sitting on a long narrow plot, the residence is composed of two glazed forms that face each other and enclose a secluded courtyard. Described by Rogers as “transparent tube(s) with solid boundary walls”, the main residence and the detached flat/pottery studio are principally constructed using eight welded clear-span rigid portals in standard steel sections. Placed internally, largely within the building’s envelope, the portals frame a series of adjustable composite wall panels, designed to optimise the space’s flexibility as well as limit maintenance issues associated with exposed steel members.

Despite being a monument to industrialised housing, the structure itself suffers from its 1960’s temporal context. With asbestos filled boundary walls and two fully glazed facades, heating and inhabiting the building was becoming more difficult. Therefore Gumuchdjian strove to improve the Grade 2 listed building’s materiality and climate control. Delicately navigating the strict like-for-like heritage requirements imposed on the building and employing advanced modern materials wherever possible, Gumuchdjian replaced three-quarters of the house’s envelope and its entire servicing system. Whilst replicating all interior cabinetry and furniture, Gumuchdjian also worked alongside Todd Longstaffe-Gowan to re-landscape the garden according to Rogers’ original design.

Further enshrining its unique character and developing its homely ‘memory, patina and aura’, Gunmudchdijian has breathed renewed life into this historic kit-of-parts house. Foretelling much of Roger’s future work, this snazzy academic residence will once again provide inspiration to tomorrow’s leading architects.