Sculptors House, London, EC1

Leather Lane Sculptors House

London

Community & Connectivity

99 — Walk Score

15 — Restaurants within 0.2 miles

16 — Coffee Shops within 0.2 miles

11 — Local Parks within 0.5 miles

4 — Tube stops within 15-minute walk

Air

100% — of flats are dual aspect, improving indoor air quality by enabling natural cross-ventilation

24/7 — programmable heating thermostats in all habitable rooms for maximum thermal control

Zero — combustible heating or cooking appliances

Mind

100% — of flats have built-in wardrobes and dedicated basement storage units to declutter home and mind

100% — of flats have bedrooms oriented eastwards to to align with circadian rhythms and encourage healthy sleeping and wakefulness patterns

Shortlisted for the AJ Retrofit Award, this historic 1886 building has been reimagined both inside and out. The result is a striking development featuring two retail units on the ground floor and a selection of 1, 2 and 3-bed boutique apartments above. Each warehouse apartment blends the old with the new. Featuring exposed brick walls, timber joists and white-washed solid oak flooring, they also boast fully integrated kitchens with the latest Bosch appliances and top of the range Grohe mixer taps.

Community & Connectivity

Located on the historic lunchtime market street of Leather Lane, Sculptors House boasts 16 bars and restaurants within 0.1 miles, while the West End and four tube stations are less than a 15-minute stroll away. With a Walk Score of 99, it’s classified as a ‘Walker’s Paradise’.

As a building of architectural interest, we celebrated the building’s history by carting some of it away. All non-original 1970s additions were removed with Victorian features rightly restored throughout.

To reinvigorate the connection with the local area, we improved the streetscape and converted the disused wholesale space. Split into two units, it now serves the community as a tea shop and a barbers.

Mind

Academic literature shows that biophilic design and connections to green space and nature have a huge positive impact on our mental health.

The natural, tactile materials used at Sculptors House bring nature closer. These include a calming, curved rear extension that straddles the adjoining buildings more organically. Three of the units also enjoy private landscaped terraces with evergreen planting – creating a sense of harmony between the architecture and the natural world.

Ample bike storage encourages physical activity, while each flat has built-in wardrobes in every bedroom as well as a dedicated storage unit to help declutter home and mind (since clutter has been shown to release cortisol, a primary stress hormone).

Air & Thermal Comfort

All heating and cooking appliances are electric, so they don’t rely on combustion for creating heat. This eliminates the risk of harmful gas emissions during use. All units are dual aspect too, meaning indoor air quality is further improved through natural cross-ventilation and flushing out toxins.

Delivering smarter warehouse living

Light

Both the natural and artificial lighting of the development is in tune with the body and aligned to our natural circadian rhythms. The bedrooms face east to receive energising blue light in the morning, while the living rooms face west to capture the warm evening light. When it came to bulbs, we went warmer in the bedrooms (2700K) and cooler (3000K+) in the more social spaces.

Air & Thermal Comfort

All heating and cooking appliances are electric, so they don’t rely on combustion for creating heat. This eliminates the risk of harmful gas emissions during use. All units are dual aspect too, meaning indoor air quality is further improved through natural cross-ventilation and flushing out toxins.