Haggerston Road
‘Respecting the building’s history and our needs’
Haggerston Road is the renovation of a former light-industrial unit in Hackney, East London. The project retains its commercial use at ground level while adding a new floor above to create a generous, light-filled family home.
We opened up the ground-floor space to connect directly with the private yard it serves, while the new upper floor is wrapped in robust corten cladding. A large rooflight draws daylight deep into the interior, balancing the building’s industrial strength with a softer domestic atmosphere.
We retained the irregular brick texture of the existing facade. We accepted that adding masonry to extend the parapets would not match any of the existing brickwork. This decision keeps the building's history visible and in character with the surrounding light industrial units in Hackney.
Internally, the palette of roughcast plaster, Venetian plaster, and stone tiles embedded with sedimentary rock, pebbles, and fossils echoes the exterior’s material honesty. These finishes bring warmth and tactility, turning an industrial shell into a family home.
Throughout the process, we worked closely with the owners, who approached the project as a self-build, guiding them to enable their vision to come to fruition. All the details came together to create a hidden sanctuary within a robust shell grounded in its history.
Photography by Sarah Button and styling by Jessica Jung.
