Aperture House

Aperture House is a new-build home in Islington enclosed in brick, where secret courtyards, skylights and perforated brickwork flood the interior with natural light. The site was previously a domestic garage, ringed on almost three quarters of its boundary by brick walls of various eras.

Paul Archer Design retained most of the original boundary brickwork and slotted the new house behind it. The ground floor, mostly hidden from the street, covers the whole plot along with two courtyards, set in a concrete structure to deal with the heavy retaining work along the boundaries. The first floor, visible from the street, is timber clad entirely in brick. An aluminium shadow gap separates new brickwork from old, making clear which is load-bearing and which is hung.

Funton Old Chelsea Yellow brick was chosen to match the predominant yellow brick of the street. The bond echoes the Flemish pattern of the older houses while signalling that the new wall is a modern cavity rather than load-bearing. Perforated brickwork and set-back glazing layer the facade, giving the detail level of the older houses by recessing rather than projecting from the main line. Because windows at the back were not possible, some of the more private rooms face the street; the perforated brick screens them by day and glows when backlit at night.

To keep the constrained site from feeling small, the ground floor is fully open-plan, with stepped level changes zoning the areas. The living space is 3 m tall, making it feel generous and airy despite the enclosing boundary wall, and light reaches the interior through lower and upper floor skylights and fully glazed courtyard doors.

The project completed in 2019. It is arranged over three levels and totals 90 m².

Architecture by Paul Archer Design. Structural engineering by Hardman Structural Engineers. Photography by Kilian O'Sullivan.