Brückenhaus

R2 Studio Architects

Southwark, 2023

Materiality and Craftsmanship Prize

Inspired by the owner’s enthusiasm for early 20th century expressionist art group Die Brücke this home reinterprets contemporary living through an artist’s lens. An expressive colour palette is weaved through the interior while the external form is kept very restrained and functionalist. The rebuilt rear wing provides space for a first-floor wellness area comprising a private roof terrace, sauna and outdoor shower. The opened-up ground floor links the existing house, the extension and the garden through a series of unique but connected spaces. The title of the project plays on the bridging qualities of the design—linking new and old, inside and outside, upstairs and downstairs, bold and restrained, daytime and evening time.

The client described how he used the house and the elements he would like to change to improve the feel and usability of the spaces and to create a deeply personal space full of character. The client asked the architects to rework his home to last him for many years and also shared his enthusiasm for functionalist architecture and expressionist art full of bold colours.

The newly opened up space offers visual connections to the front and back of the house, which can combine into a single entertaining space. Bright areas with large windows to the rear and darker, moody rooms to the front offer both daytime and night-time spaces. Natural light from a new rooflight illuminates the stairwell and upper landing, which connects the house to the bathroom, roof terrace and wellness areas with a more restrained and calming palette.

“The highlight is definitely the roof terrace with its sauna and shower. While it remains firmly in an urban environment, it’s amazing to be able to relax under your own personal patch of sky. And it’s not every day you get to shower outdoors in Peckham. Though, as it turns out, it is.”

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