Hidden House in Clerkenwell, London

[Celerity]

Designed for moments: how Phil Coffey came to live in this compact but celebrated house, which he designed for a fellow architect

https://themodernhouse.com/journal/my-modern-house-hidden-house







Many architects will tell you that some projects seem to stay with you. For Phil Coffey, founder and director of multi-award-winning practice Coffey Architects, and its homes brand, Coffey Residential, a good example is Hidden House in Clerkenwell. This inventive little project attracted plenty of design press on completion back in 2017 and featured on many awards shortlists, as well as a Grand Designs 'House of the Year' episode. Now, the story has come full circle for Phil, as he’s living in – and loving – the house he designed for another architect. “Because the story means something to me, I feel embedded in the place. It was a special project for the whole practice, we still joke about who actually designed it.”









At the time of Hidden House’s inception, Coffey Architects – currently celebrating their 20th year – were based in the old Clerkenwell House of Detention vaults, located under the Hidden House site. Back then it was just a caretaker’s shed, adjoining an old Victorian school. The developer who was converting the school into apartments asked Phil to come up with something creative for the 72 square metre caretakers’ shed – a challenging site hidden away on three sides by a Grade II-listed brick wall. Having bagged planning permission with Phil’s design, the developer then sold the site, which was bought by a Turkish architect and his graphic designer wife. They loved Phil’s design and worked with Coffey Architects’ team member Ella Wright to get the design built, before living here very happily for six years. Because of his connection with the house and clients, Phil kept in touch and, when they mentioned that they were moving back to Istanbul, it chimed serendipitously with his need for a new place – his 27th-floor Old Street rental apartment having been put on the market.









“I’m a keen photographer so the view in my last place was incredible, but I felt disconnected from the city.” While many an architect designs their own home, it’s more unusual to end up living in a space created for someone else, but Phil doesn’t find it strange. “We’re not trying to do ‘idiosyncratic’, we want to create timeless architecture that’s built to last. Because our work tends to add a lot of value, our houses often end up on the market and it’s interesting to see that the new owners don’t tend to change things.” As with much inspiring architecture, this house’s most striking features are a reaction to the constraints of the site. “With any project, you have the client, the site and the architect, and one generally has the strongest voice. In this case, it was the site,” Phil recalls. The surrounding wall meant that conventional windows would only be possible in one corner of the building and here they’re vast, offering views of richly planted gardens, both a modest private courtyard and shared communal space. But the main source of light is via seven ocular roof lights – glass-topped coffers in each of the ceilings. Continuing the ‘hidden’ theme, the frames sit out of sight, creating a monastically simple look.









“We could only get planning permission for a single storey, so it was the only thing we could do and we made the most of it!” he says, gesturing to the light flooding in from above into the main space. “Because of the design, it doesn’t feel like a roof or a ceiling, it disappears and gives the room this sense of lightness.” The team designed the space around the path of the sun, and now Phil can fully reap the benefits of this meticulous planning, from the morning sun slanting into the kitchen as he makes his coffee, to sitting in the living area in the evening, enjoying the light filtering through the neighbouring plane trees. Light is something of an obsession for this practice, for whom ‘living in light’ is an ethos, while Phil is currently writing a book about light and our connection to the environment. “Our best memories are normally in amazing light. It’s about designing for moments rather than a constant.”

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[niyad]

1. Tthank you so much for this . You must have read my mind, because I

have beeen missing (did I just not see them?) these wonderful glimpses into design and beauty.

[Hugin]

2. I could do that house...

My only critique is that I personally need a bed side table or headboard with storage.

[area51]

3. Beautiful.