“The way we build can actually affect the way we are”
— Alex de Rijke
In 1997, two years after founding dRMM, Alex de Rijke took on one of the practice's earliest commissions: designing a family home facing thirty acres of Queen's Park.
Twenty years later, dRMM, under de Rijkes’ leadership, would win the RIBA Stirling Prize.
From the street, a handsome late Victorian house. Inside, a home designed in a manner that de Rijke would later describe as "familiar materials offering unfamiliar pleasures.”
Poured concrete, laminated plywood, copper pipe and cedar of Lebanon, each ordinary in itself, but extraordinary in their use.
Radiators standing proud of the window bays, topped with concrete seats that hold warmth in winter. For a book in the sitting room, with Queen's Park to your front and the fire to your back, or in the principal bedroom, sipping a post-shower morning coffee, looking across the park.
Internal doors that have been raised in height, so every room feels generous in both its proportions and views. A Perspex-framed staircase, plywood joinery, shelving and light fittings designed for the house, not chosen from a catalogue.
A cook's kitchen running the full depth of the rear extension, with a sculptural island and an Aga at its heart. Complemented by a de Rijke-designed dining table and benches. Glazed doors opening onto a decked terrace, and garden beyond.
Two reception rooms, as connected or separate as life requires.
A principal bedroom suite spanning the house's full width. A shower positioned so you can look out across the park as you stand beneath it, an architect-designed copper towel rail.
Three further bedrooms, a family bathroom and a thoughtfully designed top-floor office, flooded with natural light.
Across a tree-lined avenue to Queen's Park. Salusbury Road at the end of Hopefield Avenue. Morning walks in the Park. Sundays at London's best Farmers' Market.
A house with unparalleled provenance.
Ready for a new family to add their own chapter.
Accommodation & Amenities
Principal bedroom suite w/ en-suite bathroom | Second bedroom w/ en-suite shower room | 2 Further bedrooms | Office/ bedroom 5 | Family bathroom | Formal reception room | Open plan Kitchen/ Informal dining | Reception/ Dining room
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Private front and rear gardens | Rear gate onto Hopefield Avenue | Covered bicycle store | Resident’s permit parking