In pictures: Wade House by Wadhal – Metroland reinvented

The two-bed new build in Ruislip, Hillingdon, occupies the site of a pair of old garages in the middle of Metroland interwar suburbia. It has a compact 70 square metre footprint, the minimum size allowed by the London Plan for a two-bedroom/four-person house. With its hipped roof, bay windows, rendered first floor and brick ground floor, the house echoes its neighbours – but in slightly surreal new way.

Following the rules 

The council made it clear that, to secure approval, any new build on the site must externally replicate the form and materials of the house next door, an austere 1930s semi typical of much of the outer London suburbs. Finding freedom in this constraint, Wadhal has subverted the spirit of the rules while following them. Wade House mirrors its neighbour’s massing and outline, but, where the house next door uses the standard suburban palette of brown brick and pebbledash, Wadhal has replaced these with contemporary materials and aesthetic, and a sustainable, fabric-first build.

The lower part of the house is clad in rich red brickwork with alternating extruded bricks in a four-point pattern. This is topped with a clean, white render covering the upper half of the facade. Visual clutter is kept to a minimum: the house lacks the chimneys of its neighbours, and gutters and downpipes have been absorbed into the fabric of the building.

The pattern of the roof tiles echoes that of the brickwork by alternating two shades of tiles. The same pattern is found in the metal garden gate. Instead of a chunky apex and pediment at the front of the house, Wadhal has used a high-density timber to create a more pared back profile, with narrow vertical strips of timber gently echoing – not mocking – the mock Tudor gable panels down the street. The low brick wall and gate add another retro touch.

All in the details

The windows are perhaps the least satisfactory aspect of the design. In the simple frames that sit rather awkwardly around the bay, there is a vague hint of that common abhoration: the inappropriate minimalist makeover of an ornate early twentieth-century home. But thanks to its detailing, intelligent design and interesting interior treatments, this is project is, in fact, a world away from such barbarities.

One key detail is the recurring semicircle motif – surely a distant echo of the sun in 1930s sunburst leaded lights and sunray garden gates – that appears in the garden beds, patio, gate latch, door overhang, and handrail brackets of the bespoke staircase. Set into the door is a stained-glass panel – designed by Edinburgh-based artist Jack Brindley – scattered with more, red glass semicircles that cast vivid shadows inside the house.

Interior

Inside, efficient use of space has been made by eliminating corridors and circulation spaces as far as possible. A bespoke staircase wraps around the back of the kitchen joinery, threading movement through the home without sacrificing space to a dedicated hallway.

Upstairs, the first floor takes full advantage of the volume in the pitched roof. Wadhal has exposed the timber roof structure rather than sealing it behind a conventional ceiling, creating vaulted heights in the two bedrooms of almost four metres. The increased headroom upstairs has also allowed the designers to move the floor level to increase the ceiling height on the ground floor too – all of which helps bring a sense of spaciousness that counters the modest footprint.

Custom joinery saves further space. A small kitchen island with an overhang that doubles as a breakfast bar has wheels so it can be moved aside to open up the living space. On the upstairs landing a reading nook with storage seat sits beneath a rooflight, carving function out of otherwise dead space. A built-in storage area in the entrance lobby houses the laundry facilities. Throughout, curtain rails are fully recessed. 

Teaming the exposed wooden ceilings with plain white walls is a combination that looks both fresh and familiar. It helps the rooms feel bigger and signals domesticity; a datum line ties the upper level together. There is an incongruity about exposed roof beams in suburbia that has been fully embraced here to great – and once again slightly uncanny – effect. It feels almost as if the celling in one of the more conventional neighbouring homes has just been taken out to reveal the loft.

Full screen in popup

• Previous
• Next

1/15

show caption

Considered material choices

Douglas fir is used throughout from the kitchen joinery, staircase and exposed roof structure. Red quarry tiles – a material found in the sculleries, pantries and porches of the 1930s models – run through the ground floor, extending outside to both patios. The compact bathroom upstairs is almost entirely clad in the same tiles.

Sustainability

The way this house has been built, however, owes little to the 1930s. The walls are well insulated with 150mm of insulation in the timber frame, and a further 50mm behind. In warmer months, the roof lights can be opened for ventilation. Wahdal has prioritised fabric performance from the outset, designing a building whose embodied carbon, modest to begin with, should be offset many times over the home’s lifetime.

A century on from the interwar expansion that created London’s outer suburbs, Wade House offers a model for new build that looks both to the past and the future – and creates something new in doing so. We are always looking for new models for housing that are sustainable, affordable to build and have the potential to be popular with home-buyers. This ticks all those boxes. Within the strict constraints of the planning process and a modest budget, Wahdal has created a home that is energy efficient, materially considered and unmistakably contemporary yet in continuity with the local 20th century vernacular.

Respecting what came before

The firm is young, but the extensions and small projects in its portfolio are all interesting and thoughtful. Fahad Malik, founding director, says of Wade House, “I grew up in and around these suburban, interwar houses. I know their proportions, materials and oversights intimately, which is why I refuse to accept a simplified reading of what they are, or how they should evolve. These neighbourhoods deserve more than replication. Wade House asks how do you make something contemporary while still respecting what came before. It is not a rejection of its context, but an attempt to understand it deeply enough to move it forward. I hope we have answered that honestly.”

I really think they have.