From the outset, the design process became an exercise in precision. The narrow proportions dictated a vertical organisation, with each floor compactly planned to make the most of every corner. Bathrooms, stairs and storage form a central core, freeing the quieter ends of each floor for living and sleeping spaces. To the rear, the house steps and pivots in section to align with the neighbouring windows, while opening generous views toward a small enclosed courtyard. 

The plot, purchased at auction in 2014, lay between a parade of Victorian shops and the curved rear walls of their yards. Just a few metres wide, it presented formidable challenges in light, structure and access. Over several years the site evolved through temporary uses - a small shop, a cabin studio - before planning approval was secured in 2018 for a two-bedroom dwelling.

From the outset, the design process became an exercise in precision. The narrow proportions dictated a vertical organisation, with each floor compactly planned to make the most of every corner. Bathrooms, stairs and storage form a central core, freeing the quieter ends of each floor for living and sleeping spaces. To the rear, the house steps and pivots in section to align with the neighbouring windows, while opening generous views toward a small enclosed courtyard. 

Externally, the building acts as a restitching of the terrace. Its brickwork and fenestration complete the urban frontage, continuing the grain of the street while subtly reinterpreting its rhythms. Every elevation, reveal and junction is tuned to the geometry of its context - a demonstration of how architectural character can emerge from the act of fitting precisely.

Inside, the material language is spare but tactile: timber, plaster and painted steel combine to create a sense of calm density. The stair sits along the street wall, pulling light through the plan and generating moments of surprise as rooms unfold.

Kenworthy Road exemplifies our belief that constraint amplifies creativity. What could have been a leftover plot has become a compact yet generous home, where careful proportion, structural ingenuity and urban repair meet. It stands as both prototype and provocation - a demonstration of how new-build architecture can make use of the narrowest of spaces.