34 Belsize Lane, including boundary wall to Belsize Lane

34 Belsize Lane, including boundary wall to Belsize Lane

House built in 1975–6 and extended in 1983. Designed by Georgie Wolton for herself and her family.

The house stands behind a high boundary wall on an irregular trapezoid plot at an obtuse corner opposite where Belsize Lane meets Ornan Road, with no street frontage. It is approached through a perforated steel gate in the boundary wall. The building comprises a single storey with a flat roof.

The original accommodation is arranged in a Z-plan: a north/south range containing an entrance hall, kitchen, and living area; a bedroom wing to the north running westward; and a studio room reached via a conservatory-like antechamber to the south running eastward. A covered entrance path and garage to the north of the plot connect the east side of the house with the boundary wall, opening onto Belsize Lane. In the early 1980s, Wolton extended the north/south range southwards to add a second studio/office, also reached through a second conservatory antechamber. The house's footprint and boundary wall divide the site into three discrete courtyard gardens.

The external surfaces comprise reclaimed mixed yellow and red brick with glazing held in aluminium frames and a felted roof. A glazed canopy projects from the blind side wall of the garage, supported on steel I beams and sheltering a path laid in brown brick paviours. The building is entered through a wide, full-height flush-panel timber door. The elevations are principally panels of brick laid in stretcher bond with raked joints, interspersed with full-height glazed openings of various widths. These open onto paved terraces through hinged or sliding doors with louvred transom lights. The wall plate is an exposed steel I beam. Triangular prism roof lights held in aluminium frames emerge above the roof line, lighting the two conservatory spaces.

Inside, the interior is characterised by a limited palette of natural materials set against flat white planes of plastered walls and ceilings. Fitted joinery is principally of thick maple-veneered plywood. Doors are a mixture of side-hung, folding and sliding types, set in full-height openings. Circulation spaces are floored in Spanish pink-buff clay tiles.

The entrance hall is generous and extends into the bedroom wing, forming a continuous hallway space enclosed on one side by the long north end wall. The ceiling is cut back from the wall face to accommodate a full-length angled roof light, creating an architectural feature. At the far end, the master bedroom is reached through folding doors opening to the full proportions of the hallway. The bedrooms contain original fitted plywood storage units in various configurations.

To the south of the entrance hall, the kitchen and open-plan living area are reached through sliding doors. The galley kitchen is fitted with plywood units, predominantly in the form of drawers, reflecting Wolton's preference over hinged cupboards. The living area is divided into dining and sitting zones by a free-standing fireplace with a raised hearth facing south towards the sitting area. Large full-height sliding shutters screen French windows overlooking the courtyard gardens on either side of the room.

The conservatories serve as glazed links or antechambers between the main house and the studio and office spaces. Within these conservatories, the walls enclosing the main house are of exposed brick matching the exterior elevations, whilst adjacent walls are entirely glazed with sliding doors opening onto the courtyard gardens. Both spaces are top-lit by triangular prism skylights carried on exposed steel I beams.

The eastern conservatory is original to the house and directly overlooks the lower-level studio room. The original tubular balustrade between the two spaces has been replaced with plywood planters. The studio is lit by a canted clerestory window at its far end.

The southern conservatory is part of the 1980s extension and is similar in character. It provides access to a small top-lit utility room in the footprint of the original house and to the later office, from which it is partitioned by a glazed timber screen.

Door handles throughout are U-shaped brushed stainless steel, possibly from the range designed by Knud Holscher for the Danish brand 'd line'. Taps and spouts are of various finishes and appear to be from the range designed by Arne Jacobsen for VOLA.

The site boundary comprises a high wall bounding Belsize Lane, constructed of red and yellow stock bricks over a plinth of brick burr (fused and misshapen kiln waste).