Crescent House

Crescent House is a minimalist home located in London, United Kingdom, designed by TYPE. Here, amid the iconic curves and concrete of the Golden Lane Estate, TYPE architects have orchestrated a masterclass in sustainable retrofit that reads like a love letter to both environmental consciousness and modernist preservation.

The space greets you first with its cork flooring—an inspired choice that does more than simply cover the ground beneath your feet. Like a warm handshake, it introduces the project’s guiding philosophy: that sustainable materials need not whisper their presence but can instead amplify the inherent dignity of modernist design. The cork, naturally insulating and remarkably durable, creates an acoustic softness that beautifully counterpoints the apartment’s restored concrete vault.

Perhaps the most striking innovation comes in the form of honeycomb cardboard sliding partitions. These lightweight screens, reminiscent of traditional Japanese shoji but thoroughly contemporary in their material honesty, transform the original three-zone layout into a more fluid, adaptable space. The cardboard’s cellular structure, typically hidden away in packaging, here becomes a celebrated design element—its geometric pattern casting subtle shadows that change throughout the day.

The cabinet work represents another thoughtful departure from convention. By choosing Ecoboard over traditional MDF for the kitchen cabinetry, TYPE has demonstrated how sustainable materials can be both practical and aesthetically refined. The cabinetry’s clean lines and minimal detailing respect Chamberlin, Powell and Bon’s original modernist vision while pushing it gently into the 21st century.

The project’s approach to thermal upgrading is particularly noteworthy. Internal insulation has been applied with surgical precision, addressing the building’s 1960s-era environmental shortcomings without compromising its architectural integrity. This intervention anticipates and complements the local authority’s planned installation of vacuum glazing—a detail that speaks to the project’s careful orchestration of past, present, and future considerations.

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