Untitled House in London by Szczepaniak Astridge.

Located in Camberwell, England, Untitled House is an extension and a renovation of an 84 square metre two-storey townhouse designed by Szczepaniak Astridge. The client, Rachel, a creative director of one of Britain’s luxury fashion houses requested a home that allowed her and her partner to retreat away from their busy careers.

Predominately inspired by Gordon Matta-Clark’s chainsawed voids, Rachel and Szczepaniak Astridge transformed Untitled House into a ‘concrete sculpture’ with awe-inspiring chiaroscuro lighting and deep interconnected void spaces – accomplishing a dream of living inside a moody art installation.

Related: Brass House in West London by Simon Astridge.

Consisting of living spaces, three rooms, a bathroom and a kitchen that opens out towards the garden – Untitled House’s structure is influenced by the combination Rachel’s existing art and furniture collection and layers stripped from the existing house. These precedents paved the direction for the architects to section spaces, displaying the client’s collection thoughtfully while using timber, semi-polished or polished concrete as the foundation. Light diffused from two timber lightwells shift the concrete’s colour spectrum and bubbled texture throughout the day. Externally, a ‘jewellery-box-esque’ timber and glass rotatable façade with a generous overhang built by Assemble pulls directional light into the kitchen – further shifting the concrete colours.

Through an in-depth investigation of ancient bathing rituals, the architects designed an atmospherically attractive bathroom on the first floor. The composition is rather geometrical, with boxy deep purple marble sink complimenting the roughly refined concrete boxy bathtub. Custom crittall enclose the concrete framed light void – allowing sounds and aromas from the kitchen below to travel upward and echo if desired. A narrow window is wedged between the vanity and the void, casting a sombre glow – becoming the perfect space to ‘guiltlessly linger’ while washing away a cluttered mind.

Despite the lonesome appearance, the minimalist brutalist interior is met with accents of industrialism to create an alone but not an entirely lonely sensation. Exposed copper and silver pipes run across walls and voids generating colourful whispers around the house, from ceramic and stone trough-like basins discovered by Rachel to the bespoke low concrete shelf isolated on their concrete canvases for a strong presence. Every interaction with the house inspires a blissful yet mindful concentration of the subjects.

It is not surprising to find that some may perceive the interior to be bleak and hollow. But when taking time to appreciate the features, you may come to realise that Untitled House is purposely designed with cool and neutral tones to allow the individuals to sift out and sit with their own thoughts.

Likened to the name of Untitled Artworks, this house asks for self-interpretation and examination of the architecture that is an extension of the client’s curatorial eye.

[Images courtesy of Szczepaniak Astridge. Photography by Nicholas Worley.]