The Space Between, Highgate
Set on a steep hillside in Highgate, this private home required a complete reimagining: a full retrofit, reorganising, extending, and total refurbishment. Purchased by our client five years ago, the house and its expansive garden held enormous potential yet demanded a radical new approach to space, light, and connection with the landscape.
Our solution was to reorganise and extend the existing building from front to rear, climbing the slope in stages. Across the site, architecture steps upwards into the garden, forming a dynamic sequence of interior and exterior spaces – a direct and evolving response to the steeply sloping plot.
At the far end of the garden, a new annex echoes the architectural language of the main house, creating a dialogue across the redesigned landscape.
Materials were chosen to reflect the tectonic character of the design: natural stone, both rough-hewn and polished, and raw concrete structural elements. Internally, these robust elements are softened by timber finishes, bringing a tactile warmth and human scale to the otherwise rigorous architectural language. The interplay of concrete, stone, and wood, lends depth and contrast, creating spaces that feel at once sculptural and welcoming.
- Architecture
- Matthew Giles Architects
- Interior Design
- Matthew Giles Architects & Hamilford Design
- Structures
- Price & Myers
- Landscape Design
- Juliet Hutt Landscape Architecture
- Photography
- Lorenzo Zandri
- Main Contractor
- Maro Construction