Meridian West

Meridian West is a private house built between 1963 and 1965, designed by architect Julian Sofaer for entrepreneur Brant Screeton. The house was extended and altered during the 1970s and early 1980s by architect E Morton Wright, who also designed the contemporary front boundary wall and gates. The building sits on a sloping site with mature planting.

The house is constructed of buff brick with fair-faced concrete beams and prominent timber detailing. The fascia is of creosoted western red cedar boards, the roof beams are pine, the eaves soffit is pine-boarded, and the windows and screens are of Utile hardwood. The flat-roofed building is entered via a staircase leading to a first-floor entrance lobby on the north front, which also functions as a bridge linking the east and west wings. This bridge was originally unenclosed but the undercroft and external staircase behind are now enclosed with glazed screens. The accommodation is largely arranged on the first floor around a partially enclosed L-shaped terrace or courtyard on the west side. The main rooms comprise a combined kitchen-dining room (now incorporating the space of a former WC), bathroom, lounge (formerly a bedroom) and two bedrooms along the east and south sides. A bedroom extension has been added at the rear, partially dug into the bank. The rectangular living room projects over the drive to the north and garden to the west. On the ground floor, the garage is positioned to the right of the entrance lobby, and a studio has been subsequently excavated from the bank on the left, replacing a small WC and store.

The exterior is characterised by brickwork that stops short of the soffit, exposing cantilevered timber roof beams that support the deeply overhanging timber-lined eaves. The north street front is largely blank brick, divided by the glazed entrance lobby and bridge above. A fair-faced concrete plinth supports the entrance bridge and living room, with a timber garage door recessed beneath the timber-lined living room projection. Small corner windows serve the kitchen and studio, a larger ground-floor window lights the studio, and concealed narrow full-height windows overlook the entrance from the kitchen and living room. The south, east and west facades are predominantly glazed at first-floor level, with projecting full-height windows for the living room on the east side and for the dining room and bedroom on the west sides, all supported on concrete plinths. On the west side, the roof timbers extend over the terrace to create a pergola, now partially removed.

The front boundary wall features curved header courses of brick with metal gates, designed by E Morton Wright in circa 1964-65. A metal pedestrian gate to the south was added later.

Interior finishes are of high quality. Walls are fair-faced brickwork or render, some subsequently covered with hessian. Ceilings are lined with redwood, and floors are carpeted except for timber in the kitchen-dining area and rear extension. Stone flags in the ground-floor entrance have been replaced with white tiles. The arrangement of rooms around the courtyard and the substantial glazing create a strong relationship with the garden. The living room has a large pivoting door onto the terrace. Bedrooms have fitted cupboards. The lounge, formerly a bedroom, incorporates the courtyard corridor and has an added fireplace. The kitchen has been refitted. Most internal doors are original, and there are good light fittings throughout.

Sofaer confirmed that he prepared thirteen designs before finalising the design as built, with the aim of achieving a harmony of proportion equivalent to that found in music. This is Sofaer's principal house design; his other notable work includes Hugh Myddleton Primary School in Islington (circa 1970) and buildings for the Jewish community including a synagogue in Wembley (circa 1980) and offices and library in Seymour Place, London W1 (1963-64). E Morton Wright, who later acquired the property in the early 1970s, initially worked for Richard Shepherd Robson on school projects including as job architect for City University. He established his own practice in Greenwich in 1965, undertaking commissions including houses at 24 Morden Mews, Blackheath, extensions to schools at Leverstock Green and Nash Mills primary schools in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, and church conversions including St Marks and Christchurch in Greenwich. He also designed a new church and community centre for Leytonstone United Free Church.