As part of the annual ‘Open House’ weekend in London, we managed to get a peak into the beautiful home of architect Laura Dewe Mathews who build and designed her own home in Hackney, East London out of solid cross-laminated timber.
“Nicknamed the Gingerbread House by neighbours, the two-storey house sits behind the reconstructed wall of a former Victorian box factory and its tall windows overlap the mismatched brickwork…The architect drew inspiration from decorative vernacular architecture in Russia to design the cedar-shingle facade, then added windows framed by thick galvanised steel surrounds…To avoid overlooking neighbouring houses, all windows had to be placed on the north-facing street elevation, so Dewe Mathews also added a large skylight to bring in natural light from above…A double-height kitchen and dining room sits below this skylight on one side of the house and opens out to a small patio. The adjoining two-storey structure contains a living room on the ground floor, plus a bedroom, bathroom and small study upstairs..”
/ first set of photographs by Chloe Dewe Mathews
hovercraftdoggy 
Reblogged this on thisoldtoad.
Simplicity and elegance combined !
Nice lines!
Reblogged this on Behind the Pear Tree and commented:
I saw this article, when I was thinking about writing my own. You would never know what beauty lies within these walls – from the outside.
Thanks for the reblog…it really is a beautiful little house :)