Project Description
In the London borough of Tower Hamlets, east of the bustling city, a
pair of historic weavers’ cottages conceals an unlikely addition: A
sweeping glass-enclosed ramp that culminates in a curving, timber-clad
volume that deftly navigates the existing garden landscape. Designed for
The Guardian architecture critic Rowan Moore
and his family, the addition was intended “to make the house as
accessible as possible,” says Stephanie Macdonald, a director of
London-based 6a Architects.
Moore’s wife Lizzie has multiple sclerosis, and was spending more and
more time in her wheelchair as the renovation process began. “I don’t
think she realized how trapped she’d become in one room,” Macdonald
says.
As it stood, the house was not easily navigable in a wheelchair: The two
weavers’ cottages were combined into one dwelling in the 1970s, but
they were not originally built at the same level, requiring stairs to
get from one to the other. A veranda built in the 1980s, which was also
accessible only via stairs, connected the two structures, and offered
views of the back garden a half-story below.
Under the circumstances, finding a solution for a typical client would
be challenging. Doing so for an architecture critic is downright
daunting, but MacDonald was not deterred. “It just meant that we could
have a great conversation about it, and that he was really engaged and
involved in the details,” she says. “We tend to find with clients that
the stronger their opinions, the better the project.” Here, opinions
were in no short supply: In addition to making the house and garden
accessible, the clients wanted to highlight their lush plantings and
preserve old-growth trees.
Macdonald and her team responded by creating a glass-enclosed ramp that
connects the two existing weavers’ cottages and slopes down into the
garden below. Perpendicular to the ramp, a long and narrow wood
structure is clad in reclaimed jarrah timbers—“they were quite old
gnarly pieces of wood,” Macdonald says, “our contractor stitched them
together”—dipping around an existing sumac tree, skirting past a
mulberry and a birch tree, and stopping just short of a looming
eucalyptus.
Inside, wood also was used to clad the doors, ceilings, and walls, and
all the surfaces were painted white to enhance the daylight that pours
through the south-facing windows. The curving hallway culminates in a
bathroom and master bedroom, where, MacDonald explains, “you can lie in
bed and look out into the garden and see what is going on, bringing the
garden inside and making it more present in the internal spaces.” And
best of all, she adds, “now [Lizzie] can get outside whenever she
wants.” —Katie Gerfen