A beautiful and innovative house the size of a tube carriage in Peckham was shortlisted this week for a prestigious housing award.
Announced on Channel 4’s Grand Designs on Wednesday night (November 24), the 2.8 metre-wide “Slot House” has been highly praised for its economic use of space.
The RIBA House of the Year award celebrates innovation and excellence in home design, and is awarded to one-off houses designed by an architect.
The two-storey, one-bed “Slot House” was designed by Sandy Rendel Architects, and is built within a narrow 2.8m wide break in an existing terrace, bounded by walls on both sides, that had lain vacant for several years.
“The major challenge was to tease spaces that were both functional and delightful out of space that is no bigger than a tube carriage,” said Sandy Rendel, founder of Sandy Rendel Architects to another publication when the house was first unveiled in 2020.
“To commit to the investment involved in developing it we wanted to be sure that the house would not simply ‘work’ but actually be enjoyable to live in.”
The RIBA Jury report, which outlines why the house was nominated for the award, said: “With housing demand what it is, especially within thriving areas that see families and key workers gradually priced out of neighbourhoods, there exist a multitude of “slot”, corner, slither, and back-land sites.
“‘Slot House’ demonstrates how with a little more time spent coordinating structure, waste and supply pipes, staircases and cabinetry the tightest of sites can be inhabited without several more wall, floor and ceiling linings needed to hide the often uncoordinated.
“It is after all only careful and combined design time, it doesn’t cost any extra but rewards its occupants with credible habitable spaces filled with light, uplifting and with outlook.
“Simply and modestly illustrating what architects do, finding the beautiful and seemingly inevitable from the meagre and ignored.”
Other houses so far announced for the shortlist include the “House on the Hill” by Alison Brooks Architects in Gloucestershire, and “House for Theo and Oskar” by Tigg + Coll Architects in Surrey.
Two of the remaining three shortlisted houses will be announced on December 1, with the last announced on December 8.