Situated in Hampstead, London, Thurlow Road is a villa that both blends in with the surrounding stuccoed houses and stands out discreetly, especially after its recent renovation by Square Feet Architects.

The 300-sq. m three-story house does not rise above the neighboring buildings, maintaining a predominantly horizontal volume with a fully green roof. At the heart of the new work is a skillful blend of solids and voids, elevated by the use of crisp straight lines and right angles. Much of the renovation was actually focused on the lower, basement level, where numerous investigations and surveys were required to determine the stability of the ground. The basement’s high ceilings and large lightwell allow for full use of the space and a remarkable level of comfort, while on the upper floors, extensive glazing provides not only significant quality daylight, but also splendid views of Hampstead and the surrounding countryside.

Square Feet Architects approached this project as a celebration of natural light, so that the large windows that let in a lot of light, both on the main floor and on the basement level, become the true protagonists of the composition.

The windows themselves feature slender, elegant metal frames that blend in with the existing materiality of the walls, creating a harmony of styles and materials. In particular, Secco Sistemi’s OS2 75 burnished brass window and door frames, used for fixed and movable openings, perfectly match the color palette chosen by the designers for the building’s façades, while guaranteeing high technical performance and durability for the finishes.

In addition, OS2 75’s thermal break system from Secco Sistemi has the versatility of choice to allow real modulation of heights and placement of openings, with the possibility of installing both single and
tilt-and-turn sashes. This wide range of options ensured that the architects could make case-by-case decisions to find optimal solutions while maintaining the essential, understated esthetics that are central to the impact of Thurlow Road and fundamental to how the home integrates into the neighborhood.