I recently entered a competition inviting architects to rethink the suburban home for the 21st century. I choose a site to provocatively highlight the disparity between the typology of a suburban villa and requirements for contemporary urban living. To purchase a large suburban home in London with multiple bedrooms is not an economic reality for my generation. As opposed to suburbia spanning away from the city centre, perhaps it is worth exploring what lessons can be learnt from this model, to generate an architecture rooted within an urbancontext. Consequently, the starting point for the design proposal is to ask a question; can the typology of an affluent suburban villa be developed for contemporary urban living?

The site is at the corner of St Ann’s villas and Queensdale road in West London, a residential street developed in the mid-nineteenth century as part of the Norland Estate. The properties are semi-detached, largely converted into flats with red brick facades and slate roofs, built in a mock Tudor style. There are many similar examples of traditional suburban villas in London against an increasingly urban context, considering the growth of the city over time.

The design proposal is idealistic, giving equal importance to outdoor rooms and internal floor area. Proposed as a series of mirrored elements, a matrix between interiors and verandas is created on each floor, allowing spaces for dining, living, studying and sleeping to flow from one to the other. Each room mirrors the proportions of another, every gesture is reflected elsewhere with semi-circular arches, corner windows and views across brick walls to achieve a coalescence of interior and exterior. It is not possible to change a singular element without affecting the whole.

The ground floor has multiple entrances as a shared living space, with eight self-contained units and private terraces on the upper floors. While the design may be adapted to family and generational living, it looks to take the typology of a suburban villa and modernise it for a younger generation. It manifests as an idea for a home, but also one for society, questioning our presuppositions toward living, interaction and community.