Inside Scandinavian-inspired innovative home named London’s House of the Year

A Scandi-tastic home in trendy Hackney has been crowned London’s House of the Year for its 70s-inspired architecture. 

The family home, named Elemental House, came out on top in New London Architecture’s Don’t Move, Improve! awards, which is in its 15th year. 

It encourages people to tap into their creative side by redesigning spaces rather than looking for new homes altogether, with the aim of inspiring innovation in the UK’s capital. 

Elemental House, designed by Archmongers, has also won the Materiality and Craftsmanship Prize.

The Scandinavian-style home has been recognised as London’s best home improvement project.

Johan Hybschmann, a director at the architecture firm and his wife, Anita Freeman, remodelled their 1970s split house and brought the design into the 21st century by increasing the natural light.

However, the couple have also future-proofed the house for modern living, enhancing the home’s energy efficiency.

The property has a simple exterior, incorporating a mix of existing materials including brick, galvanised steel, cast concrete, and timber for a stripped-down look.

The space features a chrome unit in the kitchen, terracotta-coloured floor tiles and a red staircase.

Pictures of the rear garden of the house before its renovation show tired-looking 70s-style white framed windows and door with little light, however it has now been transformed to let in more sun. 

Elemental House has opted for a simple, yet classic, white tiled bathroom with some slabs of marble to add dimension to the space.

It also has a bright library and reading space, which has a long bookshelf along with white wooden flooring and large windows to let in desired sunlight.

This choice of flooring is prevalent upstairs, where it features in one of the children’s bedrooms alongside a white bunk bed and picturesque exposed wooden beams.

Although the house has undergone structural changes, Johan and Anita have kept its original vintage character.

Described by the judges as a ‘gift that kept on giving’, the dwelling was also praised for its ‘engineering precision’ and use of recycled materials.

Here, FEMAIL reveals some of the other homes which were awarded this year… 

‘Hands-on Home’ – Lewisham

The homeowners of Hands-on Home, located in Lewisham, bagged themselves the Cost Effective Prize in this year’s competition.

They took on the roles of client, designer, and contractor, giving up their weekends in order to see the project through. 

They extended and renovated their 1970s ground-floor flat over five years and had to balance family life all while finding a way to fund their renovation without feeling financial strain. 

The colourful property has a light and airy feel to it, along with vibrant green and yellow walls and bright blue doors. 

The kitchen for Hands-on Home , which was designed by Natallia Tanko, is neutral with nude-coloured tiles, cream cabinets and a rustic exposed brick wall, along with a skylight window to increase sunlight in the corner of the house.

The tight budget meant that they experimented more with DIY and different materials to achieve the finish they wanted. 

The couple also got their family involved, with grandparents and their children helping out along the way in order to help get the project finished.

‘RAW House’ – Lambeth

RAW house, located in Lambeth, has been designed by O’Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects. 

It won the awards for Best Interior Design and Best Outdoor Space with the NLA calling it a ‘thoughtfully designed home and gallery’.

The owners felt their property was disconnected and wanted to transform it into an adaptable hybrid working and living space.

NLA stated that O’Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects were able to extend the lifespan of the building while ‘providing a cost effective and lower-carbon alternative”.

They also noted that they integrated a garden without adding an extension to the dwelling. 

The house has gone for a modest, simple interior with neutral colours and has a new entrance to the gallery and social space.

However, they have incorporated soft pinks and yellows on walls to zhuzh up a basic white space.

They have altered the old fireplace, replacing it with a red terrazzo fireplace wall which pays homage to the classic feature, along with putting in a re-imagined staircase to separate work and home.

The property now has floor-to-ceiling windows with a garden vista.

‘Hartley House’ – Waltham Forest

The Hartley House in Waltham Forest, designed by THISS Studio, won this year’s Compact Design Prize. 

The ground floor of the terraced family house in Leytonstone was renovated to infiltrate previously unused space without extending it or using concrete foundations.

The vibrant property consists of pale yellow and sage green painted walls juxtaposed with rural wooden flooring. 

The garden has sash windows and a window seat that the owner’s children can use to climb in and out of the space.

‘Steel House’ – Camden

Steel House in Camden has bagged this year’s Best Kitchen Design and Transformation Prize.

The mid-Victorian terrace, designed by EBBA ARCHITECTS, was described as ‘damp, dark, and outdated,’ especially on the lower ground floor.

However the architecture firm added a full width double height extension full of floor to ceiling windows to brighten up the space, embracing natural light. 

They have incorporated natural materials and earthy tones to ‘promote a sense of calm,’ according to the NLA.

EBBA reversed the layout so that the kitchen was at the front and the dining area was at the back to maximise natural light and make it into a ‘welcoming family space’.

They have added white floor tiles to give the feeling of more light and space, which is then contrasted with the stylish dark wood kitchen.

‘Nina’s House’ – Haringey

Nina’s House in Haringey was designed by Nina+Co with ROAR and bagged the Environmental Prize this year. 

The property in South Tottenham was originally built as a clergy house for the church next door and is 95th percentile for air pollution, nationally.

Nina+Co and ROAR remodelled the ground floor to an open-plan layout and made a decision not to extend the property but instead make as much use of the space as possible.

The owners spent their budget predominantly on infrastructure and technical performance.

This involved removing the gas supply, installing an air-source heat pump, underfloor heating, new doors and windows, cork cladding, extensive insulative work and improving air-tightness.

The house has used cork throughout to help bring down CO2 levels and help insulate it but also reinforced the connection with Portugal as a Portuguese family has lived at the house for more than 40 years.

The property also has a Scandinavian-style exterior with it being minimalist and featuring many wooden elements such as the stairs, ceiling, kitchen island and drawers.  

‘Terzetto’ – Camden

Terzetto in Camden, designed by ConForm Architects, has won the People’s Choice Award.

The owner wanted to maximise his privacy while making the most of the views of his large green garden – the reason why he bought the property in the first place.

The two-bedroom apartment in Hampstead has been altered to open it up more, so that he could have easy access to his garden via a floor-to-ceiling window door.

Like many other of the properties which won awards, Terzetto follows a similar wooden interior with green textured walls to add a pop of colour.

Skylight windows in the open-plan dining and living room area has maximised light into the room to create an airy space.