29A, Loom Lane

Private house designed and built 1962–1965 by George Marsh for himself and his family, located in Radlett on a steeply sloping site.

The house is a striking example of modernist residential design, characterised by timber hyperbolic paraboloid roofs supported on a light steel frame. The structure comprises concrete floors on a basement box frame, reinforced concrete buttresses, and dark brick and rough stone infilling. An annex roof is supported on a Mahoborn teak frame that doubles as the window glazing frame. The roof covering is copper-faced glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) reinforced roofing felt. The building's irregular rectangular plan is governed by the changing heights of three 'hypars', with the principal house rising to two storeys and semi-basement, and a subsequent one-storey addition built over the garage.

The exterior is dominated by deep overhanging roofs of cedar with rafters and cavity insulation. Timber casement windows of Mohoborn teak and cedar occupy 75 per cent of the wall surface on the south, east and west elevations, with the last two faces double-glazed. The south elevation includes balconies to the upper floors, with the bedroom floor balcony featuring a cedar-boarded balustrade. The north elevation is largely blank but contains the entrance, reached up steps from the east, and a small mezzanine office (a later addition). Entry is via two teak doors, the inner being a stable or divided door, with a side panel of Swedish glass and a projecting timber canopy bearing the house number in period lettering.

The interior is remarkably rich in material variety and little altered. A small entrance hall leads to an open-tread spiral staircase with timber treads and steel balustrade. A screen of Swedish glass samples in a steel frame opens onto open-plan living, dining and kitchen areas arranged along the south front, with the living and kitchen areas at a higher level than the dining area between them. Floors are of Carrara marble pieces set in black terrazzo, with timber ceilings and one wall of broken York paving slabs. The kitchen features fitted cupboards incorporating a hidden door to the annexe, suspended shelves, and a copper extract hood; a central Parana pine table is post-tensioned and cantilevered on two central legs. The balcony above accommodates a bathroom. The living room has brindle black brick walls contrasted with a ceiling of varying heights and materials, including a section with textured plaster and hanging lights. The semi-basement houses a playroom or spare bedroom with a combined lavatory, sink and bathroom fixture clad in mosaic, a sauna, and an industrial-sized electric boiler supplying heating and air conditioning, operated from a built-in console with external sensors. The staircase and mezzanine office are finished in beige and gold mosaic; the upper spinal corridor and bedrooms feature hand-applied sponged plaster. At each end are children's rooms with fitted closets; the main bedroom has a PVC-coated wall providing a mirror finish, with other walls incorporating niches for sculpture. The annexe rooms are simpler, with high timber ceilings following the line of the 'hypar'.

George Marsh was an early partner of the architect Richard Seifert and design architect of Centre Point in the London Borough of Camden. This house, his principal domestic work, demonstrates the same mastery of 1960s idioms and materials within a practical design concept that addresses every element from appearance to heating, ventilation and maintenance. The house was never published and represents a distinctive one-off design.