Peckham House in London Stands Out Thanks to Hit-and-Miss Brickwork

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Project Details:

Location: London, United Kingdom 

Architect: Surman Weston / @surmanweston

Footprint: 1,100 square feet 

Structural Engineer: Structure Workshop

Cabinetry: Tim Gaudin 

Photographer: Percy Weston 

Photographer: Jim Stephenson / @clickclickjim

From the Architect: "Surman Weston has completed its first self-build project, Peckham House, in south London. The new house, monolithic in its form and veiled in a distinctive hit and miss brickwork, is delicate and crafted, referencing and playfully subverting the motifs in Peckham’s vibrant and eclectic urban neighborhood.

"Spanning five years, it is the practice’s first self-initiated project working as client, architect, and contractor, affording freedoms and broadening experience beyond the parameters of a traditional architectural project; allowing the directors Tom Surman and Percy Weston the opportunity to set the brief, manage the budget and control the build, honing and improving the design during the construction phase. 

"Following a two-year search which began in 2016, the council-owned site, a small patch of scrubby grass in Peckham, was purchased at auction. Located at the end of a short two-story terrace built in the 70s, Surman Weston saw great potential in the site but bought it without the assurance that it could be developed.

"The challenge was to reconcile the conditions of the constrained, exposed urban plot to create a generous and contemporary family home. There followed a lengthy process of design development, testing a multitude of options in close consultation with SouthwarkCouncil, before obtaining planning permission.

"The house is designed with a brick façade referencing the load-bearing handmade stock bricks of the Victorian terrace and the machined brick infill panels of the car park. Bricks are arranged in a hit and miss system to attenuate what would otherwise appear as a monolithic form. 

"Design choices have been guided by a steadfast ambition to reduce embodied carbon and operational energy. Materials have been sourced locally from the UK. The house is super-insulated with triple glazing and an airtight envelope with mechanical ventilation heat recovery (MVHR), with onsite energy generation in the form of photovoltaics paired with an air source heat pump. Performance data collected to date exceeds LETI’s ambitious targets for energy use and is 80% better than Building Regulation requirements."