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Caption: THE FRAMEHOUSE The home of architect
Marcus Lee
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Caption: Located in Rowe Lane in London’s Hackney, The Framehouse is a striking looking building with an impressive architectural pedigree. It is the home of architect Marcus Lee, who was formerly an associate director at Richard Rogers Partnership (now Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners) where his projects included Heathrow Terminal 5 and the Lloyd’s Buildings in London.
Lee went on to establish his own practice, FLACQ, and then worked with Glenn Howells before launching LEEP - Lee Partnership (leeparchitects.co.uk) - in the spring of last year.
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Caption: The Framehouse is on the market with
The Modern House
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Caption: The challenge When Lee bought this plot in 2000 it was a wasteland with neither services nor planning permission. It was a risky purchase, in other words, but at 30 metres by 9 metres, this was also a good-sized plot, and Lee had a sense of the scale of the house that the planning authority might permit here.
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Caption: Lee responded with the design for this five bedroom, three-storey timber-framed house with its distinctive wedge-shaped profile, and used a combination of Siberian larch with Red Cedar for the frames and cladding and Douglas Fir for the balconies.
The extensive use of glazing means that light floods in, while eco features include rainwater harvesting and a timber pellet boiler.
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Caption: The layout is based on Japanese design, with storage arranged along the side walls concealing all the washing facilities. As there are no load-bearing internal walls, the layout could be reconfigured should the next owners prefer a different flow and use of space.
The ground floor has been arranged to accommodate an office, while the vast living room and kitchen are open plan and connect to the garden. Time and again, you note the way this house breaks with convention. The wall in the kitchen contains a bank of floor-to-ceiling height stainless steel cabinets, while the cooking zone is defined from the adjacent seating area by an elongated island topped in a sweep of bright orange Corian.
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Caption: In an article published in Dwell magazine in 2009, Lee said: "On the whole the house has some of the feel of a barn or a warehouse, but also of the Californian Case Study houses, like the Eames House. Japanese domestic architecture is also something we really admire. The wood factor fits in with that, but this is not a highly detailed house - it’s very simple. You do get that kind of modular sense here which you get in some Japanese houses, plus the minimalism - being able to put all the clutter into the banks of storage that we have."
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Caption: The Framehouse was featured on Channel 4’s Grand Designs, and the project won an RIBA Award for architectural excellence.
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Caption: Lee has described the house as being “experimental”, and the result is a unique home that’s been crafted from natural materials; that’s spacious and flexible and is filled with natural light; and that also happens to have a 40 ft long garden - a great bonus in an urban house.
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Caption: All photography from The Modern House
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Caption: For more information on The Framehouse, see the listing with The Modern House:
themodernhouse.net/sales-list/the-framehouse-rowe-lane-london-e9
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