North London practice DHaus looked to local mews houses and coach houses – as well as Tokyo courtyard homes – for a two-unit infill project behind a prominent Highgate pub.

The firm said it had to work closely with Camden council’s chief conservation design officer to develop a façade that respects the existing architecture of the Old Bull and Last, near Parliament Hill, and neighbouring homes.

Director David Ben-Grunberg said the project’s black-clad frontage – which features a privacy screen that allows indirect views out but blocks views in – took design cues, such as stepped concrete cornicing from the existing pub architecture, at the same time as being designed as a “contemporary younger sibling”.

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