This project for a contemporary private house in North London has had a long and eventful journey.

The client, a documentary film director, plans to build a detached home in the rear garden of his locally listed building within a conservation area. The design reflects both his aesthetic preferences and a very tight budget: minimalist architecture with bare concrete walls and exposed services. At the same time, the new house aims for the highest environmental performance and compliance with lifetime-homes standards.

Several design iterations have been developed. The first planning application was refused, and after two further rounds of pre-application consultations, a fully reworked version is now in progress.