The Red House

The Red House is a concept design proposal that reimagines a Queen Anne style mansion block in Clerkenwell as a site for new forms of dwelling and encounter.

Built in 1885 as part of the administrative offices for the Holborn Union Board of Guardians, the building was once a place of oversight and spectacle. Its flat, formerly a ballroom, encoded the theatricality of staged communication and institutional control. In 1994 Croft Homes, with Michael Sierens Associates, converted the structure into apartments, preserving it as a Clerkenwell landmark while layering domestic life onto its administrative past.

Reframing Theatricality

The proposal breaks from the logic of the ballroom and the end-on proscenium arch, which organise space through hierarchy and frontal address. Instead, The Red House treats theatricality as a medium of intimacy and encounter, designing spaces that foster proximity rather than spectacle.

Suspended Interiors and Gardens

Within the listed structure, new dwelling spaces are embedded in the loft through a sequence of hanging floorplates. These suspended interiors create flexible zones for living while preserving the historic envelope of the building. Around them, new gardens and courtyards are proposed to soften the building’s administrative heritage, creating thresholds for reflection, gathering, and retreat.

Toward Reactivated Heritage

The Red House positions listed architecture not as a static monument but as a framework for renewal. By layering suspended interiors and intimate gardens into its historic fabric, the proposal demonstrates how heritage can host new forms of dwelling that balance preservation with imaginative reactivation.