London’s housing stock, layered with Victorian terraces and Art Deco blocks, often forces designers to fit big ideas into tiny footprints, and five recent projects illustrate how creative use of materials and light can make under‑60 sqm homes feel spacious.
Compact living demands clever solutions.
Shoji Apartment: Light as a Design Element
Set in a 19th‑century Victorian building on a tree‑lined street in Belsize Park, the Shoji Apartment was crafted by Proctor & Shaw. The centerpiece is a sleeping pod enclosed in translucent polycarbonate panels that mimic Japanese shoji screens. When the lights are on at night, the pod glows like a lantern, casting a soft glow across the adjacent rooms. By day, large bay windows flood the full‑size kitchen, dining, and living areas with natural light.
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The designers used birch plywood, clay‑based plaster, and lino flooring throughout, creating a cohesive palette that responds uniformly to both daylight and artificial illumination. This consistent material language helps the limited floor plan appear larger than it is.
Mia’s Apartment: Opening Up a Victorian Terrace
According to Nina Tolstrup of Studiomama, the former “run‑down maze of walls” was stripped of a sun‑blocking interior wall, allowing light to travel from the front to the back of the ground‑floor terrace home. Functional zones—sleeping nooks, bathroom, kitchen, and study—are tucked along the side walls, while sliding doors provide privacy without sacrificing openness.
A custom Douglas‑fir‑clad study overlooks a living area that features a L‑shaped sofa and a diamond‑shaped dining table, both oriented toward the garden to maintain a visual link with the outdoors.
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These transformations showcase clever spatial planning and hint at a broader trend: as London’s housing becomes increasingly compact, architects may rely more on removable partitions and adaptable furniture to meet shifting household needs.
Poirot’s Bijou Apartment: Art Deco Meets Japandi
Located within the iconic Florain Court building, the Poirot’s Bijou Apartment was designed by Anna Parker of Intervention Architecture for two artists seeking a tranquil retreat. Working within the constraints of a listed Art Deco structure, she introduced continuous pale plywood joinery that hides generous storage, including a Murphy bed, a movable sofa, and a flat‑pack dining table.
The kitchen stands out in bright blue, while the bathroom is softened with pink tiling, each hue defining its own zone under the same roof.
