Mill Lane

About this project

The Project

Stood on Mill Lane, a busy, tree-lined street in London’s West Hampstead, facing a row of run-down garages, one could have been forgiven for imagining the likelihood of crime in these undeveloped dark spaces.

Fortunately, the creative force of Vabel Limited, Jeremy Spencer, had imaginings of a totally different nature, which have led to the development of three highly desirable residences occupying the space where these garages once stood. Designed and built by Vabel, who take a turnkey approach to providing luxury, boutique accommodation within prime London areas, these two bedroom houses now vastly enhance and add architectural significance to the streetscape with their strikingly modern, sugar cube exteriors.

Utilising sustainable building practices such as timber framing, green roofs and air source heat pumps, each dwelling combines a very small footprint with clever design to provide a luxurious and eco-friendly home that is deceptively spacious, and incorporates both a garden and a driveway. With the exterior walls of the development clad almost entirely in Russwood’s Plato®WOOD Fraké, a modified, sustainably sourced timber, the striking, modern design is softened architecturally. This allows the buildings to blend in with their surroundings whilst aesthetically enhancing the area.

The Fraké cladding is cleverly continued into the interior through the double storey entrance to each home, running the full height of the partition wall and flanked by a window that reaches to the glass roof above. It then travels through to coat the ceiling of the kitchen area within the open plan ground floor, facing the floor to ceiling glass wall at the rear of the building that doubles as access to the garden beyond and allows a glimpse of the timber detailing enclosing the external area. This seamless blend of interior with exterior is just one of the cleverly designed features that give the impression of abundant space, continued flawlessly throughout and complemented by luxurious and often bespoke fixtures. The first floor delightfully mirrors this approach, with two palatial, en-suite bedrooms sporting generous windows to allow light to flood into the house on both levels.

With such thought put into developing the functional yet minimalist design for this stunning project, nothing was left to chance. Bespoke fixtures and fittings were commissioned to ensure this complex management of space proved successful, and an equal level of care was invested in researching the perfect materials for the fabric of the house.