A studio converted into a shiny metal shed and a house built as a black rubber-clad box have been commended amongst the best entries in the 2012 Hackney Design Awards.
The judges praised the studio and house on Amhurst Road, saying the buildings managed to mimic an “industrial aesthetic” and were a model of “domestic backland opportunism”.
The studio was converted after clients who had used the site for 10 years said they wanted to modernise the space and create a new and sustainable community.
Architecture firm Edgley Design, who were behind the studio’s change, said they wanted to produce something that was a “domestic re-interpretation of the industrial shed.”
A new two-bed family house sits next to the artist’s studio. Both lie within the original space.
The black rubber-clad box building was designed to look “tactile and seamless, in sharp contrast to the rambling greenery of surrounding sites”. Trees planted in that area will eventually show a “green wall” to hide the house from the view of neighbours.
“The architects have avoided overlooking the multitude of neighbouring properties without compromising the amenity of house and studio,” said the judges at the Hackney Design Awards. “The lovely interiors closely reflect their respective uses, while their spare elegance shows true modernist instinct.”
The overall winner was the Hackney Marshes Centre refurbishment, with the creation of a community hub at the South Marsh, including changing rooms, a café and an education facility.
In 2010 another work in Hackney Central was commended in the Design Awards: the major improvements to the stretch of Mare Street between Amhurst Road and Brenthouse Road.
