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Light House
London, UK, 1996—2005

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A new 800 m2 house on an enclosed back-land site in Notting Hill, London, for a family of two academics and their two children. The site is intrinsically linked to the surroundings by daylight, sunlight and view criteria which change throughout the seasons; with the support of engineers Arup, a detailed environmental analysis for each individual voxel on the site was carried out. This analysis produced a database of solar and daylight conditions throughout the year, taking into account weather patterns specific to London.

The client’s preferences and lifestyle were superimposed onto this environmental data and this led to the emergence of a project that was tuned to both the three dimensional environmental conditions, and the brief. The section became inverted, placing the bedrooms on the ground floor and the living spaces on the first floor, essentially a double height ‘piano nobile’. The inward looking nature of the site in conjunction with the inverted section led to the development of a completely glazed 'sky facade' roof to the house. This 'sky facade', the only visible facade, was seen as an environmental moderator, filtering sunlight and daylight through layers of transparency and opacity.

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Three different densities of fritting were allocated to the roof panels according to criteria from the rooms below. Solar optimised terraces and gardens created internal courtyard volumes into which the surrounding spaces face.

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“What proves to be one of the finest new city homes to be found anywhere in the world. Botsford’s house of light is a thing of architectural sorcery made possible not by sleight of hands or smoke and mirrors, but by patiently applied science”

Jonathan Glancey, “Bright Fantastic”, The Guardian, 7 November 2005

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“These spaces are a luminarium, designed to defeat the powers of darkness; to create habitation where all the evidence might suggest there shouldn’t be any. It illustrates what is sometimes the real wonder of architecture: people’s sheer appetite for the hazard and difference of wanting to exist in conditions whose effects on the psyche cannot be known in advance.”

Jay Merrick, “Full Metal Jacket“, The Independent, 24 November 2005

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5881- view of dining room with Giacommetti CROP

Awards

  • Finalist, Grand Designs Best New Build House, 2007
  • Winner, AIA UK Excellence in Design Award, 2007
  • Winner, RIBA Regional Award, 2006
  • Shortlist, Manser Medal, 2006

Design Team

  • Gianni Botsford
  • Kate Darby
  • Sam Craig
  • Raita Nakajima
  • Patrick Janssen

Consultants

  • Malcolm Reading Associates, Client Representative
  • Day Building Ltd, Contractor
  • Arup, Environmental Engineer
  • Luszczak Associates, Landscape Architect
  • Roger Rawlinson Associates, Party Wall Surveyor
  • Nick Kane, Photography
  • Tim Gatehouse Associates, Quantity Surveyor
  • Arup, Structural Engineer
  • Hélène Binet, Photographer

Project Bibilography

  • Linda C. Lentz, ‘Gianni Botsford: Develops high-tech tools to make buildings for people’, in: Architectural Record Design Vanguard, vol.208 (Architectural Record, 2008), pp.112–115 → Read More
  • Salvatore Santuccio, ‘La Casa Della Luce a Notting Hill: The Light House at Notting Hill’, in: L'industria Italiana del Cimento (Italy, 2008), pp.64–74 → Read More
  • Cathy Strongman, ‘Light Fantastic’, in: House & Garden, A Splash of Colour (House & Garden, 1 July 2007), pp.120–125 → Read More
  • Zaman Cizelgesi, ‘Isik Evi’, in: Betonart : Beton Ve Mimarlik / Concrete and Architecture, vol.15 (Betonart, January 2007), pp.36–45 → Read More
  • Alex Bozikovic, ‘Above and Beyond’, in: Azure Magazine (Azure Magazine, Canada, February 2007)
  • Mira Bar-Hillel, ‘The London Houses at £10m and Rising’, in: The Evening Standard (The Evening Standard, UK, 1 January 2007)
  • ‘Wohnhaus in London’, in: Detail Magazine (Detail Magazine, Germany, 1 November 2006)
  • Monument 74 (Architecture + Design, Australia, 2006)
  • Jonathan Pile, ‘House, London’, in: A10 Magazine (A10 Magazine, Netherlands, 2006)
  • Fay Sweet, ‘Banish Boring’, in: The Evening Standard - Home and Property (The Evening Standard, 2006) → Read More
  • ‘Radical House’, in: atd-Architecture Design Technology (atd-Architecture Design Technology, Hong Kong, 2006)
  • ‘Light Years Ahead’, in: Plan Magazine (Plan Magazine, Ireland, 2006)
  • ‘Sun Tried’, in: Design Today (Design Today, India, 2006)
  • Chiara Baglione, ‘Casa a Notting Hill’, in: Casabella (Casabella, Italy, 2006)
  • Graham Bizley, ‘Gloom With A View’, in: Building Design (Building Design, UK, 2006)
  • Pragnya Rao, ‘Quintessentially Spatial’, in: Indian Architect and Builder (Indian Architect and Builder, India, 2006)
  • ‘Portfolio, Gianni Botsford Architects’, in: Blue Print Magazine - Can Architecture Beat Cancer (Blue Print Magazine, UK, 2006)
  • David Taylor, ‘Portfolio Section’, in: Blue Print Magazine (Blue Print Magazine, UK, 2006)
  • Giles Worsely, ‘Look-its the invisible house’, in: The Daily Telegraph (The Daily Telegraph, UK, 2006)
  • Kevin McLoud, ‘The perfect Home, Shades of Grey’, in: Grand Design Magazine (Grand Design Magazine, UK, 2006)
  • Sutherland Lyall, ‘This Comes Very Close to Institution-Free Architecture’, in: Architects Journal (Architects Journal, UK, 2005)
  • Jay Merrick, ‘Full Metal Jacket’, in: The Independent (The Independent, UK, 2005) → Read More
  • Jonathan Glancey, ‘Bright Fantastic’, in: The Guardian (The Guardian, 2005) → Read More
  • Jonathan Pile, ‘Light House’, in: New European Architecture 07-08 (A10 New European Architecture, 2008) → Read More
  • Robyn Beaver, ‘Light House’, in: The New 100 Houses x 100 Architects (The Images Publishing Group pty ltd, 2007), pp.188–191
  • Jonathan Glancey, Modern World Architecture (2006)
  • ‘Magic of Stainless Steel’, in: Magic of Stainless Steel (Roli Books, 2007)
  • Light House’, in: Divisare (Divisare, 2016)