Bradley Van Der Straeten Transforms London Property into De Beauvoir Garden Oasis

London-based practice Bradley Van Der Straeten Architects has completed Hawthorn House, a comprehensive residential overhaul in the De Beauvoir conservation area that reorients a traditional wide property toward its rear landscape. Commissioned by design and fashion professors Gareth and Richard, the project addresses a common spatial challenge in historic urban layouts where utility rooms and dark extensions historically severed the connection between living areas and back gardens. The resulting design earned the practice the Best Home Transformation accolade at the British Homes Awards.

The original structure featured generous proportions and classic daylight access at the front, but suffered from a fragmented layout at the rear. The clients presented a detailed brief outlining their preferences for honest materials, rich color palettes, and a layout that prioritized outdoor visibility. In response, the architects retained the front rooms largely intact while redesigning the ground and first floors at the back to establish a continuous dialogue between the interior spaces and the surrounding greenery.

Key facts
Project name | Hawthorn House
Location | De Beauvoir, London, UK
Architect | Bradley Van Der Straeten Architects
Award | Best Home Transformation, British Homes Awards

Stepped Form and Spatial Flow

The architectural solution centers on a stepped rear extension configured to match the envelope of neighboring properties without overstepping boundaries. This staggered geometry allows interior rooms to fold around the landscape while window placements break up heavy masonry. A prominent internal glazed corner eliminates a solid barrier, flooding the kitchen and living areas with natural light and providing uninterrupted sightlines to the flora outside.

Inside the ground floor, utilitarian functions such as stairs, cloakrooms, and utility spaces are treated as distinct freestanding volumes. This layout strategy maintains open circulation paths and ensures that daylight penetrates deep into the core of the floor plan. On the upper level, a newly integrated bathroom sits behind the primary bedroom, establishing a dynamic brick-layered rear elevation that looks down onto a newly installed wildflower roof.

Landscape Integration and Prairie Planting

Departing from conventional suburban layouts, the project pushes the main patio seating area away from the back door, allowing wild, naturalistic planting to reach the immediate threshold of the kitchen and living spaces. Inspired by Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf, the landscaping utilizes a diagonal planting arrangement calculated to capture changing sunlight patterns across the site. Ferns and shade-tolerant grasses occupy cooler pockets, while flowering species thrive in sunlit zones.

A raised pond positioned at the edge of the building contains nine colored Shubunkin fish, visible from a custom-built window seat that extends outward into the foliage. Low-growing vegetation directly adjacent to the windows prevents visual obstruction, while taller perennials positioned further down the plot create a layered architectural view of green from inside the home.

Material Palette and Honest Craftsmanship

Material choices throughout Hawthorn House reflect both the historic context of the De Beauvoir conservation area and the occupants’ preference for unadorned finishes. Matched bricks are used externally on the extension walls and fold inward to finish the internal perimeter, bridging the gap between old and new construction. Bare birch plywood features prominently in the staircase and utility volumes, celebrating raw structural honesty and demanding high levels of craftsmanship during execution.

Why This Project Matters for Architects

For practitioners working within historic urban contexts, Hawthorn House demonstrates how tight urban footprints and conservation constraints can be balanced through responsive massing and careful landscape integration. By moving away from conventional patio placements and prioritizing unmasked structural materials, the project offers a replicable model for breathing new life into traditional terrace and semi-detached housing stock.

Source: Amazing Architecture, https://amazingarchitecture.com/houses/hawthorn-house-london-uk-by-bradley-van-der-straeten-architects

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