Forest House | A-Zero Architects

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Commenced
Completed

2023

Forest House

TEAM

Architect: A-Zero Architects

Giles Bruce, Limal Harris, Mizue Katayama

Structural Design: Studio Allen

Contractor: J&M Contractors,

Windows & Curtain walling : Aumaxum, Yord

Photos by Agnese Sanvito

London, UK

A deep retrofit and extension of a house in Richmond, London, but made with timber from a Welsh forest. It is not often that we are able to select the materials we use form the source, but that was the case in this project, where we were able to co-ordinate the construction of our project with a woodland management strategy of a forest in Wales. The harvested timber features throughout the project, both as planed timber and sawn timber with the bark left exposed.

Knowing the provenance of materials is relevant in terms of carbon emissions because the embodied carbon in a materials journey from 'cradle' to 'gate' can be significant. Working with foresters as part of a woodland management strategy, we were able to harvest and mill the timber we required for the project and use it to maximum visual effect within the project. The video below tells the story....

More Projects

When the client approach us in 2022, this property was derelict and had not been occupied in 10 years - there was evidence of arson and squatting. When we first visited it was Halloween and the house had been decorated by the community as the local haunted house – which was quite apt given its dilapidated condition.

The client’s brief was for the house to be brought back into use with the lowest carbon approach possible. Design decisions were a balance was between operational performance, embodied carbon, and the aim to preserve the architectural character of the original building – it had previously been a tenement, and the very quirky split staircase to was the only remaining feature of note.

The project has completely reinvented the building as a low carbon exemplar. Unfortunately, the area now lacks a haunted house for next Halloween.

Adjacent to the Thames, this new build development is designed to capture specific views to London. The building is conceived as two parts, a lower brick base built from bricks harvested from the original building which sat on the site, and an upper cantilevered volume, which mediates between the scales of the adjacent buildings. The project references its context in form, but is distinct in the materiality of fibre cement tiles, flush glazing and integrated photovoltaic panels.

This residential development by the Thames River in Rotherhithe, has been completed, and is currently being marketed through The Modern House.

Originally part of the Thames' sprawling docklands, the area was substantially developed in the 1980s, but still retains some of the character of its maritime heritage, with remnants of the dock infrastructure scattered around the area.

This was a challenging site but one that was full of potential, with park facing views and a prominent location along Rotherhithe street. The design elevates six duplex above a ground level commercial unit. The duplex units are organised so that every unit enjoys dual aspect to the adjacent park on one side, and obliquely to the street.

The building is constructed of pre-fabricated timber cassettes clad in a combination of brick, steel and living green walls.

Rotherhithe Housing

Rotherhithe, London, UK

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