Private Residence
London, England
This private residence, located on Fournier Street off Brick Lane in the East End section of London, is uniquely suited to challenge and complement the homogenous 19thcentury townhouses lining both sides of the street. The client is commissioning the development of a contemporary art gallery as well as a gracious home environment that includes a separate apartment, officestudy area, gym facility with lap pool and a garage for three cars. Gabellini Sheppard Associates’ programmatic concept is to integrate the gallery and home, anticipating that their symbiotic nature will enhance the functionality and architectural depth of each.
The project, developed to the full extent allowable by planning regulation, is a six story building, four above and two below grade, with a third floor set back aligning with adjacent buildings and a penthouse above. The facade design responds to the client’s request for a discreet street presence, allowing natural light in and views out through slender openings and framed apertures within a concrete structure. The exterior vestibule delineates a single height base through which the recessed entrance, reminiscent of a Japanese ryokan, provides access to both the gallery and home. The exterior wall of the vestibule slides into the lower level revealing both a passenger and vehicle lift. The forth level penthouse is shifted back from the street plane and is conceived as a floating concrete box with sleek horizontally proportioned glazing providing views of the London skyline.
The main gallery space is located on the ground level and contains double and triple height volumes opening onto the lower and first levels, connecting the areas spatially and programmatically, and providing expansive wall surfaces for the display of art. Setback floors on the ground and terrace level, along with horizontal bands of glazing, create theatrical shafts of natural light that penetrate the gallery to the lower level. The multiuse lower level contains staff offices, catering kitchen for the gallery, a guest apartment and a fitness area with a full width lap pool naturally lit from a glass sidewalk above. The first floor level is suspended in the gallery’s double height volume and provides additional area that, along with the gallery itself, can function both as entertaining or meeting areas for the home or gallery.
The second level, which is considered the main living area, contains the kitchen and dining area and opens directly onto a large terrace for exterior dining and entertaining. The master suite on the third level has full ultra clear photovoltaic glazing on two sides with movable nickel silver screens that diffuse sunlight and enhance privacy. A master bathroom, with its translucent glass enclosure filled with natural light from a skylight above, floats within the space.
