A Victorian terraced house in south London has been transformed into a home and a gallery to allow a couple to live side by side with their eclectic and evolving collection of objects, artworks and artefacts from around the world. Rather than adding a contemporary surface that would mask the history of the building, the practice opted to make a set of new insertions to engage and reveal the existing fabric of the house.

A system of display units was conceived as a ribbon winding a path through the house. The units allow unexpected juxtapositions to occur between items in the collection but also new sight lines through the property. As it ascends through the property the ribbon interacts with the fabric of the building, forming new openings and stripping back layers of the building.

In its refurbished state, the building exudes multiple layers of meanings and associations. Dissecting the anatomy of the house effectively puts it on display, highlighting the narrative of its construction and connecting the lives of the inhabitants both past and present. Contained in this idea of evolution is the acceptance that the changes that have been made to the property are only a fleeting moment in its history and that they too will be adapted and eventually overcome, absorbed back into the fabric of the building like footprints in a landscape.


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