How we built a grand design in the urban greenbelt

Little Lodge

How we built a grand design in the urban greenbelt


SAP Energy Rating B(86)
Annual CO2 emissions 2.4 tonnes of CO2/year (60% less than UK average)
Floor area added 125%

The blank canvas for this project (that later became a Channel 4 Grand Design) was a small gatehouse on Muswell Hill, north London. It had fallen into a poor state of repair, and when we first came to it all options for its redevelopment were on the table.

The gatehouse sits in a strict conservation area on the steepest part of the hill and is set in rich woodland. It originally marked the entrance to a nineteenth-century lodge, now Grade II-listed and reconfigured into apartments; the woodland is Metropolitan Open Land, one of a series of remaining fragments of the forests in the urban greenbelt that originally stretched right across the hillier parts of north London.

Our solution, shaped by brief, site and planning guidelines, was to repair and retain the enclosing walls of the gatehouse. With it restored as a bright, white-rendered landmark on the steep hill, a new extension – wrapped in black cladding to recede into the trees – would hide behind it in plain sight. The glazed structure that connects the two is a pivot point, nestled between new and old buildings, and upper and lower levels.

Inside is a lobby, entered on the half level and with a glazed ceiling that visually extends the space towards the sky and tree canopy. The family’s main space is in the new extension, arranged to a very efficient plan with living areas downstairs and bedrooms above. The old gatehouse is converted into a guest suite. The visual focus between the two is a bespoke yellow metal stair that connects all the levels, a brave contrast with the dark external cladding and – in a project where the architecture had to be restrained for so many good reasons – an element of surprise and delight.