Walmer Yard III, London, W11

Few contemporary projects have achieved seminal status as immediately as Peter Salter's Walmer Yard. These four individual houses, of which this is the largest with four bedrooms and over 2,700 sq ft, are arranged around a Venetian-inspired, wood-block courtyard and have become a landmark of recent architectural history for their bold and effective vision. A masterful manipulation of light and indeed, space, is met with mastery in craftsmanship; a marriage recognised in its deserved accolade, the RIBA London Award 2017.

The houses are an exacting manifestation of Salters organic sketches which offered romantic scenarios for how one might live in each of the spaces. And, with the practical and design assistance of the architect Fenella Collingridge and developer Crispin Kelly, whose early vision it was to replace a derelict Victorian warehouse with a work of substance, these poetic abodes achieved their realisation.

The setting of this refined hamlet, by the open greenery of Avondale Park, gives it neighbours of period stucco fronts that line the streets between Holland Park and Notting Hill. Its own subtle facade and entry through bronze electric gates however, imply a concept at once medieval and post-modern, rustic and futuristic.

From here are routes to the secure underground parking and along the gentle curve of a rising pathway to the communal courtyard. Moveable oak panels clad the upper elevations of three of the houses, offering light regulation and acoustic barriers, while achieving a truly transporting aesthetic. Fixed lamps in the courtyard provide soft illumination for the evenings and 'conversation' benches are built into the various structures.

The houses are formed of concrete, much of it left pleasingly bare, around an ellipse filled with a staircase of carbonised steel. The interior is a feast of poetic imagination; clay walls, coloured windows, seeded-concrete floors, fluted black-lacquered wardrobes and custom-steel fixtures are a few among the many visual pauses throughout.

This house enjoys a particularly lateral arrangement over three main storeys. The first is arranged around an intriguing hallway where, like a chef's creation, Salter presents us with concrete four ways; fluted, shuttered, smooth-cast and the terrazzo-like polish of the floors.

Around the hallway are a media room/library, a study and the first of four en-suite bedrooms. The remaining three bedrooms are spread across the width of the first floor. There is a rare communication between these rooms, through bursts of sunlight from one to the other and transmitted light through coloured glass.

The second floor has the most wonderful living space arranged around a log-burning stove, with a terrace and a pair of window seats overlooking the courtyard. On the same level is the kitchen; oak cabinetry and granite surfaces move into the oak-clad form of the dining room where high walls of clay culminate in a cave-like dome, lit in spiritual fashion from above by a glazed oculus.

Beyond its practicalities, this is a home where material and light can offer stimulation in the most mundane of moments; like poesy manifest.

Nearby

Across the road from Walmer Yard is Avondale Park with its cafe and sporting greens, and what is considered Britain's first floral lawn, designed to provide biodiversity for the immediate area.

The wider area is renowned for its parks. Holland Park, unarguably one of London's finest, is a short walk to the south with tennis courts and a Japanese garden. Kensington Gardens is a slightly longer walk east and is home to the Serpentine Galleries and the James Pennethorne-designed Italian Gardens of Hyde Park.

Portobello Road, Golborne Road, Notting Hill and Westbourne Grove are awash with eateries, great pubs and boutiques, not to mention their excellent markets.

A few minutes' walk just around the corner is where Portland Road meets Hippodrome Place and transforms into a wonderfully energetic pedestrianised area. Here, a parade of shops and restaurants is clustered around mature olive trees. Florists, interior designers, cafes, galleries, clothing shops and ceramicists populate this villagey corner of the neighbourhood, as well as the newly revamped and highly praised Julie's Restaurant and its new cafe. Six Portland Road is another treat specialising in low-intervention wines and modern European cuisine.

Transport

Holland Park Underground Station is a short walk for fast links to central London. There is excellent access to the M4, the A4 and A40, providing quick access to Heathrow Airport by car. Paddington Station is also nearby for the Elizabeth line, Heathrow Express, services to the west of England.