A tall plane tree forms a focal point for the Tree Courtyard House, a home Cross-laminated timber structure Formerly on a backland site London by local studios ao-feet,
Set behind Walthamstow Village’s main shopping street, the two-bed home has been designed to blend into its surroundings with dark grey-brick walls. ao-feet Said “Reduce attention”.
The 63-square-metre house occupies an L-shaped plan on the north of the site, which previously housed a restaurant kitchen, leaving space for a generous garden.
According to the studio, the root system of the 15-metre-high London plane tree guided the form of the house, while its windows and skylights were placed to allow views of its foliage.
Liz Tatarintseva, director of AO-feet, said, “We took advantage of seasonal changes in tree foliage and location during the summer months, providing shading on the south-facing facade, while allowing more light during the winter months , when the leaves fell.”
Inside, Tree Courtyard House’s living area, kitchen, dining and bathroom are at the center of its floorplan, with two bedrooms facing the courtyard garden.
The structure of the house is made of 43 panels of spruce cross-laminated timber (CLT), manufactured in a factory and assembled on site within five days in collaboration with mass timber specialist ConstructCL.
It also features a glue-laminated (glulam) beam, which is used to support seamless ceiling panels that appear internally unsupported.
This seamless look is achieved by placing supporting glulam beams diagonally, inverted and embedded into the roof construction.
Given the proximity of the houses on either side of the Tree Courtyard House, one of AO-Feet’s main design challenges was to achieve adequate daylighting while maintaining privacy.
The solution was to build a mono-pitched roof with the windows located upwards, allowing a view of the tree’s leaves and preventing neglect.
Meanwhile, in the bathroom, a large skylight looks out onto the neighboring trees, creating a brighter and more open feel without compromising privacy.
“The backland site is surrounded by neighboring properties, but from within the garden and house it feels very private,” said Zachary Fluker, director of AO-Feet.
“The garden has a strong connection with nature with the large London Plane tree as a focal point, with all the glazing framing it from different vantage points.”
Indoors, the spruce CLT has been left open to celebrate its natural texture, while a grid pattern of tiles was chosen for the kitchen and bathroom. A polished concrete floor remains continuous.
The home is complete with an exhaust air heat pump that reuses energy from waste air resulting in lower operating carbon.
AO-FT has completed other CLT projects including its first project in Walthamstow The Spruce House, a two-storey house situated between terraced housesIt built the Tree Courtyard House with local developer Jonathan Hooker of Castleguard Homes.
Other mass timber houses on Dezeen include A chalet with a sloping green roof in Quebec And Heath House in London designed as a “sanctuary for well-being”,
photography is by Rory Gardiner,
