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Bravura House

Bravura House offers premium post-graduate student housing for the Amar-Franses & Foster-Jenkins Trust, achieved by converting a detached Arts & Crafts house located in the Mapesbury Conservation Area of NW London. 

The design includes seven spacious en-suite student rooms, complemented by ample shared living spaces. A mezzanine-level workspace overlooks the dining area and connects visually to the kitchen through internal windows. 

Located in the the rear garden is an acoustically engineered rehearsal room, formed from portalised glulam beams and clad in anodized bronze aluminum. This unique space enables music students to practice in a specialized environment, without issues with noise transfer to neighbouring properties.

The alterations internally were significant, and with large format glazing to the rear elevations movement was carefully analysed.

Due to particularly poor ground to the rear, a piled solution was presented in order to help ensure minimal movement between the existing footprint and the proposed extensions.

For the rehearsal room in the rear garden, the close proximity of large mature trees dictated a mini piled solution, which allowed us to avoid damaging key tree roots, and also maintain their access to air and water.

Awards

British Home Awards 2022 (Winner - Best Community Living), Student
Accommodation Awards 2021 (Shortlist - Social Impact Initiative),
AJ Retrofit Awards 2021 (Shortlisted)

Photography by Richard Chivers