This Reimagined London Terraced House Balances the Mundane With Theatrical Design

Summary

• The Druid Grove House, designed by CAN, subverts the traditional London terrace with hyper-real natural elements
• Eclectic interiors use bold colors, custom materials, and organic gestures to balance theatricality with domestic intimacy

The Druid Grove House in East Dulwich, designed by architecture & ideas studio CAN, reimagines the traditional London terrace as a hyper‑real natural sanctuary. Tailored for a visual artist, the project extends and refurbishes a three‑bedroom home into a material‑rich environment that feels part stage set, part domestic retreat.

Drawing inspiration from non‑architectural references such as surreal natural scenes, steel structures, and floral arrangements, lead architect Mat Barnes translated the client’s vision into a dynamic dwelling that maximises natural light while embracing eclectic textures and bold gestures. The result is a home that balances intimacy with theatricality, grounding everyday life in a mystical, imaginative atmosphere.

CAN’s design initiated subtle reconfiguration alongside daring architectural gestures to unlock the ground floor’s flow and maximize natural light. This included the removal of a central structural wall and a half-metre rear extension. The space was reorganized around a central antechamber, which was transformed from a dark, underutilised dining area into a key introductory space set with a bar. Flanking this space is a pair of cave-like openings that conceal sliding pocket doors and set the scene for the rough cast texture of the kitchen and dining area. To maintain visual continuity, the front living room is painted entirely in a creamy white, contrasting subtly with the oiled Douglas fir plywood floor panels.

The kitchen, previously a dark outrigger, was dramatically transformed into an open, customized space defined by a 4-meter-long meandering stainless steel island. This island, featuring integrated hobs and a fully welded-in sink for a seamless finish, is made up of two pieces and craned in through the living room window for installation. The adjacent new kitchen pantry combines custom design with existing systems, combining IKEA components that are wrapped in Douglas Fir plywood stained with a warm burnt orange linseed oil. Adding to the feeling of exaggerated natural forms, overhead timber trusses are imagined as growing tendrils, stained pale green, traced, and hand-cut by the contractor on site.

The upper levels continue the material richness and conceptual playfulness. An alternate-thread staircase connects the main bedroom to a retained mezzanine, where a standalone bathtub offers a private, contemplative retreat within the eaves. A shower room features a striking green terrazzo shower wall panel with purposefully broken edges, mimicking the organic gestures found throughout the home.

Out in the garden, the architecture is anchored by an imaginative privacy device: a single, colossal standing stone or ‘menhir’. This ancient rock, chosen by the client and architect in Cornwall, was safely craned over the house to provide a physical and symbolic anchor, adding to the home’s elemental, protective sense of enclosure.