David Adjaye and leading architecture practices design flexible Cube Haus modular homes
It makes for a compelling rags-to-riches story: a small, awkward, neglected London site, an acclaimed designer and a contemporary, sustainable fantasy home. And the best part? It’s 100 per cent true.
Land-sourcing platform Land Converter is seeking out unloved real estate from local landowners, and enlisting top names to transform it into covetable architecture.
Launched this week by two London entrepreneurs, Land Converter’s developer partner Cube Haus has commissioned four modular house designs from David Adjaye, Faye Toogood, Carl Turner Architects and Skene Catling de la Peña to adapt into any garden, industrial space, or even rooftop. Sellers will get a premium for their land, and buyers will get a modern dream home at a competitive price.
Founders Paul Tully and Philip Bueno de Mesquita have proved it pays to have creative friends in high places. Tully is a creative agency veteran with brands including O2 under his watch. His partner Bueno de Mesquita enlisted Adjaye to build his Lost House in North London, then again to design a Mayfair shop for his wife Roksanda Illincic, whose label Roksanda he also cofounded.
The pair began with a single design by a mutual friend, Charlotte Skene Catling, and approached estate agency Modern House to market the idea. ‘They warned us that we’d be pigeonholed if we used just one modern architect,’ says Bueno de Mesquita. ‘So we started to look at architects with different aesthetics.’ Immediately, he says, ‘they loved the idea.’
The challenge for Adjaye, Toogood, Turner and Skene Catling was to make their design adjustable – able to be reconfigured to fit any awkward site. The interior skin would have to be cross-laminated timber, so each design could be prefabricated in the same factory and built with the same construction method.
Each designer returned within six weeks with a flexible prototype upwards of 500 square feet, certain to make it through any planning process. For instance, says Tully, ‘Carl Turner designed his around an internal courtyard to get rid of the “right to overlook” issue. The modular blocks can be adjusted on a computer within the constraint of the site.’
Though you might not classify a Cube Haus as affordable – the partners are working with Modern House to market the homes at £700,000 to £800,000 – they’re arguably ‘accessible to people who wouldn’t consider using an architect,’ says Bueno de Mesquita. ‘We’re aware of the shortage of housing in London, and we want to build as many as we can.’
Land Converter agrees to pay landowners about 25 per cent of the end value of their property. ‘If we get the land at 25 per cent,’ says Bueno de Mesquita, ‘we know the house can be accessible at a price point for resale. We’re not interested in selling houses for £2 million in Chelsea.’
At the moment, five homes are navigating planning permission in neighbourhoods like Ealing, Forest Gate, Sydenham and Peckham, where the average home on the street is valued in the Cube Haus range. The goal is to build 100 houses locally in five years.
INFORMATION
For more information visit Adjaye Associates’ website, Skene Catling de la Pena’s website, Carl Turner Architects’ website, Faye Toogood’s website and Cube Haus’ website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Based in London, Ellen Himelfarb travels widely for her reports on architecture and design. Her words appear in The Times, The Telegraph, The World of Interiors, and The Globe and Mail in her native Canada. She has worked with Wallpaper* since 2006.
-
Discover Eve Arnold’s intimate unseen images of Marilyn Monroe
‘Marilyn Monroe by Eve Arnold’, published by ACC Art Books, is a personal portrayal of an icon
By Hannah Silver Published
-
Mallorca’s ‘chocolate hotel’ celebrates six decades of Mediterranean panache
Sixty years after it opened, Hotel de Mar remains a celebrated example of Mediterranean vernacular architecture
By Sofia de la Cruz Published
-
Cadillac extends its EV portfolio with the new Vistiq, a luxury three-row SUV
If you absolutely have to drive an SUV, the launch of the Cadillac Vistiq means the marque now offers a full suite of electric options
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
A Peckham house design unlocks a spatial puzzle in south London
Audacious details, subtle colours and a product designer for a client make this Peckham house conversion a unique spatial experience
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Squire & Partners' radical restructure: 'There are a lot of different ways up the firm to partnership'
Squire & Partners announces a radical restructure; we talk to the late founder Michael Squire's son, senior partner Henry Squire, about the practice's new senior leadership group, its next steps and how architecture can move on from 'single leader culture'
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Meet the 2024 Royal Academy Dorfman Prize winner: Livyj Bereh from Ukraine
The 2024 Royal Academy Dorfman Prize winner has been crowned: congratulations to architecture collective Livyj Bereh from Ukraine, praised for its rebuilding efforts during the ongoing war in the country
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
RIBA House of the Year 2024: browse the shortlist and pick your favourite
The RIBA House of the Year 2024 shortlist is out, celebrating homes across the UK: it's time to place your bets. Which will win the top gong?
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
The new Canada Water boardwalk is an experience designed to ‘unfold slowly’
A new Canada Water bridge by Asif Khan acts as a feature boardwalk for the London area's town centre, currently under development, embracing nature and wildlife along the way
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Paddington Square transforms its patch of central London with its 'elevated cube'
Paddington Square by Renzo Piano Building Workshop has been completed, elevating a busy London site through sustainability, modern workspace and a plaza
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Architectural car parks to drive into, in the UK and beyond
Architectural car parks form an important part of urban infrastructure but can provide a design statement too; here are some of the finest examples to peruse, in the UK and beyond
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Architectural Association's newest show uncovers the architectural legacies of rural China's lost generation
The Architectural Association’s ‘Ripple Ripple Rippling’ is not your typical architecture show, taking an anthropological look at the flux between rural and urban, and bringing a part of China to Bedford Square in London
By Teshome Douglas-Campbell Published