There’s little we love more than seeing architects do brilliant and unexpected things with disused spaces. One example we’re particularly excited by is this exquisitely crafted house built upon a brownfield site in Forest Gate, east London. But we’re not the only ones who have fallen for its sublime sawtooth brickwork and thoughtful design: conceived by Dallas-Pierce-Quintero, it won a roster of awards following completion, including RIBA London Best Small Project 2015 and New London Architecture Best Home 2015. Box watchers might recognise it from the TV too: it was also shortlisted for Grand Designs House of the Year in 2015. As it comes on the market, we discover why it’s a winner…

Dallas-Pierce-Quintero, the London-based practice founded by Jonathan Dallas, David Pierce and Juliet Quintero in 2009, is lauded for leading site-specific projects. In fact, the firm revels in working with awkward-shaped and small-sized plots that require radical thinking. The brief of this project was to build a tranquil home on a tricky infill site in east London, with lots of natural daylight and privacy from the neighbours – and it quickly got their attention. The L-shaped plot was formerly part of next door’s garden and, later, a builders’ yard, measured a modest 165sq m, but the architects instantly saw its potential.

The resulting design is a testament to the firm’s skillset. In order to make the most of the tight site, the living spaces are almost completely open plan, which makes the interior feel incredibly spacious given the footprint (the completed house is 95sq m). There’s also a bedroom on the first floor, with its own en-suite and treetop views, and a separate flexible studio nestled within one of four courtyards. These outside pockets, which the home has been set around, are one of the brightest stars of this show: each has been designed to perform in a different way – from an alfresco dining area to a verdant garden. They provide plenty of extra space – especially in the warmer months when the doors can be left wide open, and due to the use of floor-to-ceiling glazing throughout, the house is exceptionally bright too.

The craftsmanship of the house itself is extraordinary. There’s the slick sawtooth brickwork used on both the building’s exterior cladding and in the living space. Playful brickwork is evident on the façade of the house too, where a striped graphic chequerboard pattern sits pretty. Here, sheets of corrugated fibre-cement have been used for the top half of the house, adding further texture and clevelery elongating the lines of the brickwork below. This impeccable attention to detail is precisely why this small house makes a big impression.