An exclusive tour of the RIBA-winning Green House in Tottenham
It’s easy to feel boggled by the newfangledness of environmentally conscious construction, with all its -ethanes, polywotsits and electrochromic contrivances. That isn’t to say it’s not welcome; indeed, the science is evolving reassuringly rapidly, but it’s both encouraging and inspiring when the high-tech is balanced with the low-fi, the attainable and the recognisable: recycled elements, reclaimed materials, lots of greenery. It makes architect Nick Hayhurst’s assertion – that we have no option “other than to be designing ecologically” – feel achievable.
Nick knows a thing or two about striking exactly that balance, having done so beautifully at Green House, the winner of RIBA’s House of the Year 2023 award. Designed by Hayhurst & Co, the quietly radical new build is an open-plan and open-minded rethinking of the typical terraced dwelling, one that feels all the more surprising given its confined setting: an unassuming residential alley in Tottenham, north London. Before its owners, Tom and Amandine von Schelven, turned their attention to it, the plot was unremarkable, save for its potential. A “badly built 1980s house” occupied the site, explains the project architect, Claire Taggart, that the team originally looked at converting or extending, in an attempt to lower the amount of embodied carbon involved in the project, but that notion proved unworkable given its ramshackle condition. The idea for Green House, inspired by the glasshouses that once populated this area, was hatched.
But Green House’s name is more than just an allusion to its origins. High performance (which is where those more technical bits come in) was both a priority and, for Nick, a necessity. The result is a house that not only used as little energy as possible to build, but continues to use as little as possible to run – something that particularly impressed the RIBA judges. All but off-grid in summer, it’s been fitted with photovoltaic panels on the roof, which power both an air-source heat pump and a battery for gloomier days. Passive measures, such as windows in the glass roof, cool the building when necessary. Greenery, planted close to the house and filtering the air, feels less like a separate entity than part of the decoration.
To an outsider, the ingenuity of this project belies the incredibly tight budget the architects were working with. But Claire believes it was exactly these strictures that forced them to think outside the box. The house had to be quick to construct (its cross-laminated timber frame took around ten days to erect) and the materials were specified with a great amount of creativity. That chic translucent external cladding, for instance? Agricultural roofing that costs around £5 per square metre. And the garden pavers are in fact old breeze blocks bought from Gumtree, infilled with jesmonite, a non-toxic eco alternative to resin.
Such imagination has paid off; the pride and connection Tom feels to the surfaces in the kitchen and master bathroom he poured himself during lockdown, studded with waste gravel and glass like some graphic, almost Memphis-esque terrazzo, is palpable. These elements are indicative of what Nick calls an “eco Pop” approach to materials – and they illustrate another strand part of this house’s DNA: fun. From a topiary dinosaur to the riad-style atrium that centres the plan (inviting a bit of Tangier exoticism to Tottenham in the process), the building is filled with spirit-lifting surprises. Crucially, however, nothing exists without a purpose: that dinosaur conceals a treehouse for Tom and Amandine’s two young children, the well-style space helps with temperature regulation, and the curtains downstairs – an inspired alternative to dividing walls – help absorb sound. Everything here is a reminder that sensible decisions need not be joyless.
Something both clients and architects have enjoyed more than anything, however, is seeing how the kids have interacted with the house, playing hide-and-seek behind the curtains, for instance, or running around the mezzanine. This finding of “other nooks and crannies” that hadn’t necessarily been conceived in that way, says Nick, what “helps us get out of bed in the morning”. Given that children – the architects of better, greener future – it seems only natural.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a global professional membership body that serves its members and society in order to deliver better buildings and places, stronger communities and a sustainable environment. Follow @RIBA on Twitter for regular updates. Find the full list of 2023 RIBA House of the year shortlist and to watch films on the houses
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