Giles Reid Architects transforms Islington mannequin factory into private house

Briefly describe the project.

The house is a converted small factory originally used to manufacture mannequins and sits in the Canonbury Conservation Area. 

Most conversion projects involve some sort of extension. Here, by contrast, the key move was to remove a modern infill extension, so as to bring light and air back to the lower ground floor. Taking away square feet goes against conventional real estate wisdom. However, rather than be preoccupied with the amount of floor area, the client and I felt the focus should be on getting better space.

Who is the project for and what was the brief?

It is a private house for a couple seeking a place of retreat and calm. The clients knew from the off where they wanted to put the bedrooms. However, it took some time to work through how best to reorganise the other two floors. The new layout reimagines the top-floor structure as a small kitchen and dining room, where there is the best light and view. These sit below a pyramidal timber ceiling. The bedrooms and bathroom are on the middle level. The living floor is on the lower ground floor, with its new courtyard.

Were there any significant factors that influenced the design?

The building is at the end of a run of two terraces whose gardens face each other. From the street, the building had an appealing quiet rationalism to it with upper ground floor sash windows simply arrayed across the facade.

However, as we soon discovered, many recent interventions into the building had been poorly built. Things that you touched felt hollow and insubstantial – brick slips glued over real brick and so on. A lot of work was required to get back to the original fabric, making the walls feel solid again and the floors sound substantial underfoot.

Explain the project’s external treatment

The project involved demolishing an existing dilapidated rooftop structure, a very bowed, three-storey brick rear wall and the internal floors. After that, we inserted a new three-storey steel frame, and constructed insulated ground, first and second floors and new roofing. We rebuilt the rear facade completely, from the ground back up. In effect, it was a retained facade scheme. Finally, we restored and partially rebuilt the front elevation, using reclaimed London stock and repointing it with lime mortar.

How did you design the interiors?

The walls are skimmed with natural plaster and a clear, breathable matte sealer. The plaster, which is simply a standard building product, nevertheless gives a warmth and softness to the interior acoustic. Internal brickwork has a lime slurry finish with white masonry paint. 

Joinery is bespoke throughout. It includes the lower ground floor facade, all sash and casement windows, doors, stairs, storage, and the top-floor kitchen. To get the exactness I am after, and to avoid the huge expense of bespoke joiners, I make joinery-level fabrication drawings for every element.

What was your approach to sustainability?

The key environmental aspect was the creation of a new external courtyard, landscaped and paved in reclaimed granite setts. This courtyard introduces light, fresh air and greenery to the lower ground floor. Previously it had a somewhat subterranean character and was lit only by Velux rooflights.

The existing building was also completely uninsulated. We insulated all the floors, roof, new external walls and changed all single glazing to slim double glazing.

What was the main challenge and how did you overcome it?

The existing building threw up a lot of challenges, many of which were not evident at first and only could be fully assessed after stripping out, with the contractor already mobilised on site. The major challenge was to redesign the building structure completely, while on the go, and while keeping the contractor active. In this we were fortunate to have a client and builder who could see the promise of the project and so we were able to reprogramme where we could to maintain momentum.

What is your favourite detail in the project?

An early discussion in the project was about flooring. We settled on reclaimed gouda boards which we found in a barn in Kent. These are wide plank, 4m-long pine boards, originally used for curing gouda cheese. We sanded them back, applied a lye finish and sealed them with a clear oil.

The entire interior was then set out to coordinate exactly with the dimensions of the boards, in both width and length. Walls stopped exactly on the board lengths. We reversed boards to run across door thresholds, allowing us to break rooms and corridors into floorboard modules of 4m.

Are there lessons from this project that might be applied elsewhere?

Joinery detailing throughout was derived from 19th-century joiners’ manuals. The project was an exploration of carpentry and how far one could push so-called regular builders, often with skills they are only rarely asked to use, to execute everyday details but with real precision.

The building sits in a continuum of the office’s projects, which seeks to work inventively with London’s everyday classicism. This direction is not so much because we want to argue for any timeless value in classical architecture as such, but more because this feels like a way to create something specifically connected to London.

Giles Reid is founder and director of Giles Reid Architects

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Key data:

Total contract cost Undisclosed
Area of renovation 145m²