Lantern Studio
Surman Weston were asked to design a space for studying, relaxing, entertaining and above all somewhere that would encourage more engagement with an exceptionally mature, wooded south London garden.
The primary garden facing elevation was a critical design element for the scheme. Here the architect played with transparency and structure to create a building with a subtly shifting appearance.
Approaching the building from the house, the structural timber truss is expressed playfully along the front elevation and is partially screened with a translucent secondary facade, which adds both privacy and intrigue to lure users down the garden. By day the fibreglass skin flickers and shimmers in the sunlight, by night it scatters and diffuses light from within to glow like a welcoming lantern in the woods.
Internally, the space is wrapped with spruce plywood maintaining a warm inviting environment even at the depths of the dampest and coldest winters. The double pitched soffit is punctured by a large roof-light providing views up to the mature trees above, while the large Douglas Fir sliding-door and windows look back out to the wooded garden.
Two discreet doors lead through to a storage space and shower room – the latter of which features a dramatic frameless window facing onto a secluded corner of the garden, allowing the users to feel as though they’re truly immersed into nature and washing in the wilderness.
