Tree House, East London

Tree House, east London
6a Architects for a private client
GIA 57m²

It’s a not unusual problem: how to make an awkward house accessible to an increasingly immobile and wheelchair-dependent family member. Here, the task has been done ingeniously and with joie de vivre. The original 1830s joined pair of listed cottages had many level changes, not least from the back of the houses down into the much-loved garden. This project realigns the house, makes a virtue of the necessary ramps – one curving round a Sumac tree – and creates a new simple timber bedroom building in the garden, which is informally shared with those of neighbours. It’s a beautiful response to a tricky challenge.

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