Bespoke architecture and design practice MOCT Studio has commenced work on its 3 x 5 House project, which received planning permission last year.
The name of the project refers to the dimensions of the house in Voss Street, east London. MOCT Studio are providing a full range of architectural services to transform the former garage site into a 40 sq m home for the client.
The project is the latest in a string of renovations down the cobbled mews which traditionally occupied lock-up garages for market traders.
The house has been designed with a “deliberate lack of hierarchy”, which means the living spaces can be used flexibly. The areas within the building were designed to intersect in order to allow activity and light to pass through on into another.
The three-storey house challenges the constraints of the narrow site by stacking areas against the rear wall. The available daylight will be maximised from the north facade through a double skin veil of translucent polycarbonate. An open kitchen occupies the lower ground floor, while a mezzanine-like raised ground floor contains a bathroom and living space. The top floor comprises a bedroom and balcony that overlooks the mews. A perforated metal stair connects the levels and acts as a light shaft.
Chris Thorn, director at MOCT Studio commented:
“For the first time the Draft New London Plan makes specific reference to small site, infill developments recognising the contribution these can make in delivering new homes for London. We know that higher densities lead to higher land prices and in turn higher purchase prices. Rather than contributing to this problem, the project shows that small highly constrained sites, previously thought unbuildable, can be usurped by taking a creative and ambitious architectural approach.”
Mo Wong, also a director at MOCT Studio added:
“Limited space and a constrained site meant that clear concepts were established at the outset of the project. These pose questions about contemporary urban living, the fabric of urban infill sites and our open, sometimes veiled, relationship to the street.”