Swarovski House
Bevan Street, London N1

SOLD

Architect: Adjaye Associates

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"It is unclear whether we should understand the house as an extension of the garden, or the garden as an extension of the house" - Peter Allison

Designed by the acclaimed architect Sir David Adjaye, Swarovski House is a masterful example of contemporary intervention set within the proportions of an early Victorian townhouse. It can be found on quiet and leafy Bevan Street in Islington, within the Arlington Square Conservation Area. The period façade remains, while the interiors have been completely transformed with soaring double-height spaces clad in warm-hued timber and a wonderful glazed extension within the private garden at the rear. The house measures just under 1,200 sq ft internally and is arranged with two light-filled bedrooms.

Designed in 2001, the house was an early project by Adjaye and demonstrates the skilful manipulation of spatial volumes and natural light that has come to define his work. The current owners have conscientiously conserved the original design while installing an elegant new bathroom and creating a utility room/storage in the under pavement vaults; well-conceived additions that adapt the house for modern life.

Adjaye’s design reworked the internal plan to create various half levels connected by a beautiful timber staircase described by architectural writer Peter Allison as a “promenade architecturale”, with unexpected openings providing views from one space to another. Entry is to the ground-floor living room, which retains its Victorian proportions and handsome front-facing sash window.

Timber cladding envelopes the kitchen and the two-storey dining space on the lower-ground floor. This is the centrepiece of Adjaye’s intervention, creating strong visual warmth and striking geometric lines. The garden was landscaped with concrete steps and benches, and this material continues to form the lower walls of the house. The minimal palette of wood, concrete and glass serves to create a contemporary space as visually arresting as it is welcoming.

Also on the lower-ground floor is the second bedroom and an adjacent WC. The current owners opened-up the hallway to continue into a new under-pavement utility room, with is wonderfully light thanks to the addition of a glass door that opens onto the street-facing courtyard, where there is bike storage in the second vault.

On the first floor is the principal bedroom, and across the bright hallway is the family bathroom. This is arranged with a new walk-in shower and contemporary bath by Inbani. On the second floor is a wood-panelled home office/reading room, with a door to the roof terrace.

Swarovski House is so-called because it was created for a member of the Swarovski family (it has since changed hands). At the outset of his career, the architect was focused on producing dynamic private residences, and he was embraced by the artistic community in particular. More recently, Adjaye has turned his hand to major civic buildings, including Rivington Place and the Idea Store in London, the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Denver.

Bevan Street is a broad and peaceful residential street which runs towards the Regent’s Canal and has access to the gardens and amenities of Arlington Square. Despite its quiet situation, the house is within easy reach of the shops, bars and restaurants of Upper Street, Shoreditch, Hoxton and Clerkenwell. Within a stone’s throw of the house there are many good eateries, cafes and pubs; Pophams Bakery, The Duke of Cambridge and minutes along the canal is the Towpath Cafe.

The Underground is available at Angel (Northern Line), and Old Street and Essex Road stations are also close by. Numerous bus routes provide easy access to the City and West End. To the south, significant redevelopment and investment is taking place in the area around City Basin and Old Street’s ‘Silicon Roundabout’, as it attracts tech companies and creative talent from around the world.

Please note that all areas, measurements and distances given in these particulars are approximate and rounded. The text, photographs and floor plans are for general guidance only. The Modern House has not tested any services, appliances or specific fittings — prospective purchasers are advised to inspect the property themselves. All fixtures, fittings and furniture not specifically itemised within these particulars are deemed removable by the vendor.


History

Swarovski House is given extensive coverage in the book David Adjaye Houses (Thames & Hudson). Peter Allison writes:

“The widespread construction of basements in 18th– and 19th-century London was discussed by John Summerson in his book Georgian London. The earth from the basement was used to raise the level of the road, leaving a short flight of steps to the front door. The back garden, however, remained at its natural level but was not accessible from the reception rooms on the floor above. The reconfiguration of Swaovski House addresses this issue by placing a living space at basement level, which, due to its height, has a spatial connection with the front door.

“In a London terrace house, the staircase forms a vertical element running through all floors and spatial interaction with the spaces it serves is limited, as in the main staircase in the Ofili house. In Swarovski House, the staircase’s containment, position and orientation is different at every level and its detailing is intimately linked with each of the spaces it serves. It forms a promenade architecturale, connecting the basement to the roof.

“Although the window openings of the original house have been retained, the rebuilding of the interior can be seen from the outside. From the street, the treads of a staircase are visible as they move in a transverse direction across the space that would previously have been the reception room, and, looking up, it is possible to see the sky through the new rooflight in the main bedroom. On the back façade, the floor of the new bathroom cuts across one window and lines up with the sill of another, so that a chair appears where convention suggests there should not be a floor for it to stand on. These interventions are more legible due to the replacement windows on the upper floors of the back wall.

“Coming through the front door, a cranked staircase ascending into a top-lit space provides an immediate introduction to the themes of the house. The wall it stands against has three openings: the bathroom door on the landing, a window that slides past the staircase itself, and a doorway onto a small internal balcony. The window and the balcony introduce the internal architecture of the basement living space.

“Unusually for a London terrace house, the two-storey basement space acknowledges each of the key levels resulting from the remodelling of the ground before the first construction began. With its exceptional height, boarded surfaces and the balcony and window on the inside wall, this could be an external space. It is unclear whether we should understand the house as an extension of the garden, or the garden as an extension of the house.

Above the living spaces, the bathroom and the main bedroom are positioned at intermediate levels on the way to the roof; both are integrated with the staircase as it winds its way upwards. The gain in height is marked by a change of material, birch plywood replacing oak boards. A small study at roof level peeps over the butterfly-section parapet on the back façade, its exterior clad in iroko timber.”

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