Walls of linea 6012 connect the exterior and interior of this mews house

Blackbox: Culford Mews London by Form Art Architects

The idea of the mews served as the starting point for Blackbox in more ways than just its physical location.

In contrast to the traditional mews architecture of solid brick enclosures with tiny windows and little daylight, this design is filled with light, but still respects the contextual language of a 'solid box'.

The design features of the entrance courtyard and staircase in this instance are key for the purpose of generating light into the heart of the house. As a result of the physical area given over to the courtyard, the ephemeral qualities created are 'borrowed' back so to speak.

This essentially refers to the light and views, with the staircase serving as a journey up Blackbox right through to the skylight. This can best be described as the layering of views and the 'bouncing' of light within the house.

Simultaneously developed as a house gallery and vice versa, the design is a continuation of Form_art’s work with artists and galleries, namely their current engagement with the Tate Gallery. The volume of space carved out by expressing the brickwork enclosure enables the inside to hold a pure white ‘floating’ box, suspended to further express the interior's language of 'objects'.

The project serves as a testimony to Form_art’s working ethos of generating work to test and develop ideas. This process provides Form_art with complete artistic freedom as designer and client and hence, there is an uncompromised approach from initial design through to completion.

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Linea 6012 reinforces the idea of bringing earth and air together

Black House is a private new build house in the English countryside in Kent and was completed in the summer of 2017 by AR Design Studio.