ECLIPTIC COTTAGE
A compact Victorian terrace in Wandsworth, reimagined as a sequence of light and atmosphere, Ecliptic Cottage explores how texture and illumination can reshape the experience of spatial rhythm.
Set within the Shaftesbury Park Estate conservation area, the house presented a series of constraints, including a modest footprint, heritage sensitivities and flood-zone considerations. The clients, a young couple embarking on their first shared home, sought spaces that felt connected yet composed, dynamic yet not entirely open plan. Rees Architects approached the project as a choreographed journey, using light as a structure to guide movement and define mood.
The result is a home that feels expansive in spirit and ambition rather than size. A home that’s fluid, tactile and rich in atmosphere.
A Sequence of Light and Mood
The ground floor now unfolds as a series of distinct atmospheres, each shaped by its own light strategy. From the street-facing lounge to the garden-facing kitchen, the plan slows, draws you in and then expands.
At the front of the house, the lounge is intentionally atmospheric. Timber louvres filter daylight, allowing shadows to drift across walls and surfaces. Moving inward, the dining room deepens in tone with a new light profile. A raised ceiling painted in a richer shade heightens intimacy, subtly lowering the pace. The journey concludes in the kitchen extension – a clear, luminous space that opens fully to the garden through a wide pivot door.
Artificial lighting mirrors the patterns of natural daylight, ensuring the play of light and shadow continues into the evening. Small changes in level define each zone without visual clutter, reinforcing the rhythm of movement through the home.
Ecliptic Cottage underscores the role of light as an architectural tool. You can feel the change in pace as you move through the house – the light guides and grounds you, almost subconsciously.
Small Moves, Generous Living
While modest in scale, the house is rich in practical functionality. A shallow cloak cupboard at the front of the house conceals pull-out hanging rails within a depth of just 400 mm. A slim glazed opening in the lounge frames a view to the garden, visually extending the space beyond its physical limits.
The kitchen extension opens up the space, despite being only 6 sqm, achieved by removing the original outrigger and inserting a precise side infill. A subtle ‘step’ down into the space adds a beat pause to the flow, as if the home breathes you into it. Angled patio detailing and flush thresholds dissolve the boundary between inside and out, making the garden feel a part of daily life.
Upstairs, interventions are deliberately restrained. Original features are preserved, bedrooms are finished in a soft, Scandinavian-inspired palette, and the limewash finish continues upward, bringing texture and continuity. The loft-level master suite benefits from generous dormer windows, filling the space with daylight while maintaining a calm, retreat-like quality.
Texture, Craft and Detail
Materiality forms a second sensory layer. The kitchen’s smoked timber cabinetry is echoed in matching slatted detailing around the island, paired with reeded CNC-cut marble that catches the light in subtle relief. Brickwork to the extension is laid in a regimented relief pattern, offering a contemporary expression that remains quietly rooted in the surrounding Victorian fabric.
Throughout the home, brushed limewash finishes introduce softness and tactile movement. In the hallway, gentle curves to the ceiling and walls encourage a more fluid passage through the narrow plan, softening sightlines and enhancing flow.
Period skirting, reinstated coving and matt black and brass detailing strike a careful balance between heritage and charisma, allowing the house to feel both grounded and expressive.
Light as Architecture
Working within conservation guidance, proportions and alignments on the external elevations were carefully maintained, while upgraded double-glazing and insulation improve thermal performance throughout.
For the architects, the project’s defining quality lies in its staging of light. For the clients, it is the ease and character that now shape their everyday life.
Through precision, texture and careful control, Ecliptic Cottage demonstrates how even the smallest homes can carry a strong sense of presence – architecture shaped by the beauty of light and atmosphere.
Signed by Rees Architects
Ecliptic Cottage reflects the studio’s belief that thoughtful architecture is not defined by scale, but by clarity of intent. It is a home composed through light, material and movement – harmonised for the life within its walls.
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