Open House 2020 Special – Podcast Makers House

In this special episode of the podcast for Open House, George Bradley speaks to Sophie Goldhill of Liddicoat Goldhill Architects, about their Makers House project in Hackney, London, one of the most popular houses of the Open House London event in 2018.

The interview is an opportunity to explore the home through audio and listen to the ideas and influences behind the design.

At the end of the episode, George asks Sophie the same three questions he asks all of his guests;
– what really annoys her about her home?
– what house has she visited that has really inspired her?
– and, if she could choose anyone to design her a new house, who would she choose?

The episode will go live here 10.15am on Wednesday 23/09, so tune in!

A bit about the house;

Shortlisted for the prestigious RIBA House of the Year, and winning a RIBA London Award, Sunday Times homes commendation, Manser Medal Shortlisting and NLA nomination the handmade Makers House is a new-build detached family home in East London.

Having bought the site in 2012, David and Sophie won planning permission, raised finance and built the 2,390 sqft house – by hand as the main contractor ​–​ over the following four years. They set their own brief ​–​ to explore the ideal texture and atmosphere of domestic architecture. This experimental objective was achieved while simultaneously satisfying the constraints of speculative residential development.

The house’s asymmetric form is an elegant solution ​– it ​emerged from scrupulous computer analysis of the site’s constraints (proximity to listed buildings; neighbours’ rights to light); it deftly captures key moments of available sunlight while forming apparently regular interior spaces.

The pursuit of craftsmanship and tactility is reflected in the house’s rich palette and varied processes of fabrication. The exterior combines roman brickwork with inky pigmented zinc roofing and bleached larch carpentry. Internally, the structural steel and timber work is exposed, and married to a restrained palette of reclaimed industrial materials.’