*협소주택 런던 컴팩트 하우스 [ Russell Jones ] house-highgate-london

러셀 존스가 디자인한 런던 하이게이트에 위치한 벽돌 집은 조용한 자갈길을 면한 마구간들을 마주하고 있다.  90평방 미터의 부지에 침실 2개를 갖춘 68평방미터의 소형 벽돌집은 차고와 정원을 변형한 곳이다. 작은 부지를 최대한 활용하고자 한 방식으로 설계된 결과 집은 컴팩트하면서도 넓고 특별한 느낌으로 완공되었다.

Designed by Russell Jones, this 68sqm compact 2-bedroom brick house with an enclosed 11sqm courtyard in Highgate, faces onto a quiet cobbled mews. The 90sqm site was formerly occupied by a disused garage and a derelict garden. The house sits amongst a patchwork of rear fenced-off gardens, garages, mews houses and ad-hoc rear ad-ons and a recently completed house, also by Russell Jones. The location, originally a decrepit backland area, a haven for crime and fly tipping, is now gradually developing into a secluded residential enclave.

The project was designed and developed with an economy of visual, spatial and structural means. The material palette and the design were kept intentionally simple. The volumes were handled in such a way as to make the most of a small site constrained by overlooking neighbours on most elevations, resulting in a building that has an overall sense of space and calm, infrequently seen in properties of this size in London. The careful selection and crafted use of materials create an essential quality that isn’t apparent in the materials themselves. The resulting home, although compact, feels spacious and special.

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On the ground floor the covered main entrance provides direct access to an open plan living, kitchen and dining area. This area opens out onto a rear courtyard via floor to ceiling glazing which provides a physical and visual continuation of the space. The paving stones form a continuous surface from the front external entrance through the internal areas and out into the rear courtyard. The first floor is accessed via a single flight stair hovering beside the brick wall. On the first floor are 2 bedrooms, each with built-in storage, and a bathroom. Dormer and skylights are carefully positioned to bring daylight in to the interior.

In the courtyard a small niched area is incorporated into the brickwork wall for residents to place candles or herbs and plants to enliven the courtyard place. The quality of the brickwork has been enhanced through the use of a carefully selected mortar, using white cement, lime and washed river sand, and a subtle manipulation of the surface texture using a method known in Scandinavia as ‘Sækkeskuring’. A similar finish, known as ‘bagging’ was popular in Australia in the 1960s and 70s. This surface finish was appreciated as a way of creating a more monolithic Architecture, without losing the identity of each and every brick.

from yellowtrace