The Makers House

Shortlisted for the prestigious RIBA House of the Year, and winning a RIBA London Award, Sunday Times homes commendation, Manser Medal Shortlisting and NLA nomination the handmade Makers House is a new build detached family home in East London. Having bought the site in 2012, David and Sophie won planning permission, raised finance and built the 2,390 sqft house – by hand as the main contractor ​–​ over the following four years. They set their own brief ​–​ to explore the ideal texture and atmosphere of domestic architecture. This experimental objective was achieved while simultaneously satisfying the constraints of speculative residential development. The house’s asymmetric form is an elegant solution ​– it ​emerged from scrupulous computer analysis of the site’s constraints (proximity to listed buildings; neighbours’ rights to light); it deftly captures key moments of available sunlight while forming apparently regular interior spaces. The pursuit of craftsmanship and tactility is reflected in the house’s rich palette and varied processes of fabrication. The exterior combines roman brickwork with inky pigmented zinc roofing and bleached larch carpentry. Internally, the structural steel and timber work is exposed, and married to a restrained palette of reclaimed industrial materials.