House for two artists | Tony Fretton Architects

The project is a conversion of an early 20th Century five-storey former clock-makers. With an extremely tight budget, we concentrated on reusing much of the original fabric and making strategic changes to the section and plan to provide inspiring and effective spaces. All else is very simply detailed, with our clients constructing some parts themselves. A low basement is made into a tall painting studio, by raising part of the roof and creating a split-level terrace in the rear garden above. The third floor provides another studio, for smaller photographic and graphic work, with a window looking out over the city. The design strategies are resolved in the façade, with the deployment of floor to ceiling windows on the top floor, which align to the parapet and roof windows of the neighbouring buildings. The street façade is treated with a stucco, which has been over painted by the client with a black glaze, resulting in a street façade which is sympathetic to the surrounding brickwork. The theme of masking is also applied to the windows, which are constructed of timber and finished with bronze anodized aluminium.