LH1 & LH2 | OBR Open Building Research

LH1 & LH2 are the regeneration of Victorian residential buildings situated alongside Clapham Common Park and Milner Street in London.

The objective for this project is to preserve and maintain the original features, materials and atmosphere of a Victorian House, while renovating them to meet the needs of contemporary living.

As in the original vision of a Victorian House, each building maintains a strong relationship between internal space and existing gardens, creating a new continuity between lower ground floors and upper gardens.

The extension of each façade is achieved through the use of folding timber beams, which merges the indoor living areas and the outdoor wooden gardens, incorporated as external rooms of each house.

To extend the interface of the living areas outdoors, rear gardens comprised of recycled bricks are implemented and roofed with glass, generating new space. The glass roofs of the gardens are supported by identical timber beams each separated by structural joints. The timber beams, which each have the same dimensions, create a brise-soleil effect, illuminate the inner spaces of the living areas with a gradient of light from inside to outside.