Crouch End

Modern dormer, elegant interior, North London historic charm.

The residential boulevards of Haringey’s Crouch End Conservation area are a harmonious mix of generous, late-nineteenth and early-twentieth Century red-brick homes. A mixture of pantile and slate roofs complete the warm, crisp palette.

OGA was commissioned to enlarge the second-floor accommodation of one such house to create a sophisticated family bathroom and stairwell.

The house is flanked by two similar houses, each with flat-roof dormers clad in lead and hanging tile, visible from perpendicular streets. This encouraged a flat-roofed dormer geometry but offered flexibility in materials, albeit within the tone of the conservation area. A choice was made to clad the new dormer in an upmarket, vertically-oriented, standing seam zinc with freeform, steel window arrangement to optimise views and privacy. Planning consent was acheived without complication.

The interiors component is by OGA design partner Studio Lavan. Thanks to Studio Lavan for use of the below, copyrighted image.

Completion was January 2025.

A soft, fresh colour pallette is combined with classical shapes which have modern detailing, in acknowledgement of the historic setting and the occupant’s 20th-Century British lifestyle.

Vertical, shiplap wainscot panelling and mosaic tiles correct for an unusually low ceiling.

Rooms are light-filled and spacious due to intelligent spaceplanning, and the large windows and rooflights.

Handmade tiles interact with vibrant stone for a more organic but classic and sensual bathing experience.

The bathroom serves as an etheral endpoint to a reimagained corridor in a strong and intimate blue. Both darker and lighter pallettes grant hero status to the historic townscape via steel framed picture windows.