camera jewel house
camera jewel house
two buildings gaze at each other across a courtyard of water,
the house and studio for a photographer and a jeweller,
is about looking and being looked at
RIBA Future House Award 2004
In the courtyard, over the water, the house faces south while the studio faces north. The two facades reflect each other, making the courtyard a space of infinite reflections.
The house is a jewel box. The jewels, whose honeycombed facades light each space, are objects for living; cooking, cooling, washing and storing. As night falls, the glowing jewels transform the micro-capillary street façade into a shadow theatre of light and movement.
The studio is a camera obscura. As the workday ends, the blind comes down, an inverted image of the house and its reflection in the water appear on the studio’s back wall.
client private
location london, uk
size 430 sqm
status completed 2001
structural engineer atelier one