Weardale Road, London SE13

This striking three-bedroom house in Hither Green, south-east London, has been recently completed to a designed by award-winning architects 31/44. Its prismatic form successfully creates a series of bright and dynamic spaces through dramatic glazing, unexpected volumes and several interactions between its mid-century inspired interior and its various outside areas. Weardale Road is close to Manor Park and Blackheath and is a 12-minute walk from Hither Green station, which runs services to central London in as little as 14 minutes.



The Tour



The architects have created an impressive angular elevation with double-height glazing and clerestorey windows visible from the roadside. The entrance is set back from the road behind brick walls and high slatted fencing and opens to a pleasingly grand courtyard with steps up to the front door.



Quarry tiles clad the raised porch and continue into a bright atrium and across much of the level. Underfloor heating extends throughout. To the right lies the kitchen and reception room, open in plan and surrounded by glazing. The kitchen itself lies beneath a dramatic double-height section and pitched ceiling with high-level clerestorey windows creating a sense of cascading light. Slightly raised beyond the dining and living spaces and overlooking the open-plan space is a cleverly carved-out study with a built in desk.



The first of the house’s three bedrooms is on the ground floor, where quarry tiles become engineered oak. This room has sliding glazed doors onto the front garden. Adjacent is a playful, green-tiled bathroom with a walk-in shower, Roca sanitaryware and terrazzo porcelain flooring.



A timber staircase provides a softer, focal point for the two sides of the ground level and acsends against an exposed brick wall, to the first-floor gallery landing, which overlooks the living spaces on one side and is bounded by a run of floor-to-ceiling windows on the other. The two remaining bedrooms branch off at either end of the landing; the first, at the northerly end, is painted a warm ochre and beside it is a bathroom clad with marine-blue tiles.



While all three bedrooms retain a feel of privacy from the rest of the plan, the principal room - to the south of the upper level - is especially self-contained with a smart en suite shower room. The bedroom has a row of high-level ribbon windows and a separate picture window that work in tandem to usher in plenty of natural light.



Outdoor Space



Distinct outdoor spaces radiate from the house’s ground-floor plan. The first, the front garden, is a generous space with plenty of room for potted plants. Two outdoor storage cupboards can be accessed from here, ideal for storing bikes and gardening equipment.



From the living space is a second outside area laid with gravel and bounded by a tall brick wall. A bed planted with Erysimum 'Bowles's Mauve' and a Hamamelis Arnold Promise in the centre runs along one section, with ample space for the green-thumbed to arrange additional potted plants. There is space for a dining set-up as well as a pair of deck chairs for basking in the southerly light.



The Area



Weardale Road is close to several green spaces: Manor Park lies at the end of the road and runs alongside part of the River Quaggy, while Manor House Gardens is a short walk away.

Slightly further beyond, but still within easy reach, is the restorative greenery of Blackheath along with its village-like centre, which we’ve written about in our Journal. Beyond lies Greenwich, which has a similarly broad offering of brilliant places to eat and ways to while away an afternoon - not least the National Maritime Museum and the Old Royal Naval College.



Even closer to home are the likes of Sapore Vero pizzeria, the Station Hotel and cafés Milk and Arlo & Moe. There is also a brilliant grocery and deli, Found Hope, on Hither Green Lane.

There are plenty of schooling options nearby, including Trinity Church of England School, Brindishe Manor School and St Margaret’s Lee CofE Primary School in the state sector as well as privately run Blackheath GDST.



Hither Green station is a 12-minute walk from the house and runs services to London Bridge in as little as 14 minutes, Waterloo East in 16, and Canon Street in 18. There are also plenty of bus routes that serve the area.