Priory Terrace

The project is an apartment for a psychoanalyst, contained in the top floor and attic of a Victorian villa in South Hampstead. The existing attic space was very restricted and, being in a conservation area, there was limited scope to extend. His private dwelling is carefully separated from a library, where he receives patients, and a study.

The private spaces are oriented around a new double height living space, crowned by a large roof light. A new staircase rises up to the bedroom where a shuttered opening allows the room to be part of the living space below or to be closed off. Morning sun enters through the roof light near the bed head, offering views of the tower blocks and street below. To the west, and the evening sun, is a timber lined box forming a terrace outside and a shower within.

The project seeks to create multi-layered spaces, dealing with issues of privacy and openness, creating views within itself and outwards to the urban context beyond.