The Genius Space Saving Home

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When needs must you really get to see what people are made of and that's never been more true than when talking about awkward space architecture in central London. It's no secret that space is short but it's also high cost so when even a seemingly unusable plot of land becomes available, savvy designers with decent foresight will leap at the chance to create something unique, which is what happened here.

Flower Michelin were commissioned to design a new build three-bed house in Peckham that could fit in an awkward space. The finished product was an architectural collaboration with the late Richard Paxton of Paxton Locher & MOOArc and was so unusual that it was featured on Grand Designs.

Let's take a look as you might have spotted a slither of land that could be turned into something quite special!

Unassuming and awesome

You'd be forgiven for walking past this strange little building and having no clue as to what it was or who built it but once you see what it contains we know you'll never forget it. We love how unassuming and subtle this exterior is and it's made such great use of an awkward site.

The green privacy screen is a lovely touch and really helps to bring a little nature back into this city centre home and it looks stunning next to the wooden cladding. What's really interesting is how this façade looks from further back as you can get a real feel for the rest of the street.

The little box that blends

Of course, this house does stick out somewhat when compared with the more traditional and regular architecture of surrounding buildings but you can't deny that there is something wonderfully subtle and almost camouflaged about this build.

To an untrained eye this could be thought of as a greenhouse or maybe an exceptionally pretty garage building but what the front doesn't show you is how incredibly well laid out and elongated this building is at the back. Fantastically enough, the design team were able to work with some very unusual shapes.

Wide open space

When forced to adapt standard dream home plans to fit within a cramped and unusual space you will naturally have to make some compromises. However, one thing that hasn't been undermined here is the overarching sense of style that this London home naturally radiates.

We are in love with this open plan room that makes it look so easy to contain a living, dining and kitchen space all under one, removable roof. By being able to open up that innovative ceiling natural light is able to flood the space thereby making it feel a lot larger and far less cramped.

Innovative ideas

In a smaller house that features a lot of strange shapes and spaces your storage needs to be at the top of its game, otherwise you could find yourself being overrun with belongings that make your home feel a fraction of the size. Even in a large house that is a risk but we love what has been done.

Blink and you could miss the subtle but ingenious side storage pull out shelves and just look how perfectly shaped they are to fit with the wall. Though the décor scheme is erring on the side of pared back and a bit more minimalist, there has been no scrimping on the storage, especially in the kitchen.

Bird's eye view

When we said there were some strange shapes to get to grips with, we weren't kidding! Not only is this house long, narrow and single-storey, it also has to accommodate non-linear rooms and strange tapering in certain spots. Fortunately, the design team made easy work accounting for all of it.

We love how the kitchen cabinets follow the curved walls with ease and never seem to step out into the room too much. Add to that the fact that there is enough room for a family dining table and a living room section and suddenly this small plot has a lot of value for a busy family.

Privacy maintained

You might think that a home like this would offer little in the way of privacy but in actual fact, everything has been crafted specifically to make the most of natural light while not impacting on security at all. This wonderful bedroom section at the rear of the house is a great example of that.

Secluded from being overlooked by neighbouring houses, this charming sleep pod is perfectly positioned to offer maximum impact and minimum invasion. There's even a secret under the bed, too… a bath, so as to save even more floorspace!

For more small home inspiration, take a look at this Ideabook: Modernising a Small 1920s Semi-Detached Home. It's amazing what you can do with a little imagination!

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