Cloud House by Peter Morris brings "fairytale flamboyance" to London

Marshmallow-pink walls, sweeping arches and turquoise detailing influenced by a trip to Miami animate architect Peter Morris's self-designed home in Gospel Oak, London.

Named Cloud House, the eccentric project combines two offset residences, one for Morris and his partner, producer Emily Kennedy, and a second for a neighbour who shares their love of colour.

According to the architect, the goal of the project was to bring joy to passersby, while giving his "love of postmodernism a chance to reveal itself fully".

"The key goal was to make a beautiful building which I hoped might create a little moment of joy for anyone walking past it on the street," Morris told Dezeen.

"It’s easy to dismiss colour and pattern in architecture as frivolous, but there’s something about this visual language that triggers an emotional response that’s different from what you’ll get with elegant modernism," continued Morris.

"For me, that alone tells us we should push for more variety in the built environment and be open – as Camden Council have been with this project – to the idea of more fairytale flamboyance on our streets," he continued.

Cloud House occupies the site of a now-demolished Victorian home, adjacent to a distinctive church and school, where the couple have lived since 2016.

Its bold colour palette and cloud-like forms were inspired by the couple's honeymoon in Miami and the city's vast collection of art deco architecture.

"Emily and I honeymooned in Miami, where we loved the art deco curves of the buildings, and the pink and turquoise colours everywhere," Morris explained. "In a way this building is an architectural love letter to my wife, so it felt appropriate to have some of that honeymoon spirit in the mix."

According to Morris, the project also draws on the curved forms of the neighbouring Grade II-listed school and Grade I-listed St Martin's Church, which Morris said are "fabulously eccentric buildings".

"The school, which sits in St Martin’s Hall, has a frontage that looks like a Medieval castle," he said.

"And the church – described by the historian Nikolaus Pevsner as ‘the craziest of London’s Victorian churches’ – has a knock-out interior, with a brightly coloured chancel ceiling and a nave with dramatic wooden arches."

Cloud House's main structure is composed of structural steel and blockwork.

This is clad in decorative arches made of polystyrene, sprayed with a waterproof layer and a textured top coat to match the bright pink render on the elevations, and positioned in place by the architect himself.

Morris's home is the smaller of the pair, located on the right side of the plot. It measures 133 square metres.

The home is accessed from an entrance on its front elevation. It has a large, open-plan ground floor, comprising a lounge, kitchen and the architect's studio.

Its two upper floors are each fitted with a bedroom and bathroom, while a roof terrace crowns the home, complete with an outdoor bathtub.

Next door, the adjoining 165-square-metre home is accessed by a side entrance and has an upside-down arrangement.

Its ground floor contains a home office with a kitchenette, and a guest ensuite bedroom at the rear. Above is the main bedroom.

The main bedroom has a dressing room and ensuite, and sits alongside another smaller ensuite bedroom.

Meanwhile, the social space with seating, dining and cooking spaces is on the top floor, with an adjoining terrace. A second larger terrace tops the home.

While the interiors of Morris's house boldly match its vibrant exterior, the interiors for the neighbour's home were left blank and ready for them to customise.

Interior highlights of the architect's home include turquoise epoxy floors, colour-drenched bathrooms and an emerald-green striped kitchen.

Cloud House was featured on the TV show Grand Designs in September and has been shared widely on social media. Morris said the response to the project is sharply divided.

"I know that not everyone will love the Cloud House as much as we do – the reactions to it on social media have been either overwhelmingly positive or overwhelmingly negative, with nothing in between," he reflected.

"My final goal, and hope, is that some of the people that do love it might one day be keen to commission me to create something colourful and joyful for them too."

Other pink dwellings featured on Dezeen include a concrete “fun house” on the English coast by RX Architects and a guesthouse in the Azores contained within a converted stable.

The post Cloud House by Peter Morris brings "fairytale flamboyance" to London appeared first on Dezeen.