Concrete Oasis: London Brutalism meets mid-century California

Interior designer Emma Dahlman (Still Life Story) and her husband Nick were searching for a new project when she came across a neglected, double-fronted Victorian villa in East London. The house had been carved into a series of ramshackle bedsits, but recognising its potential, the couple seized the opportunity to restore it into a family home with the help of architects Bindloss Dawes. Over the course of a three-year renovation, they set out to preserve the building’s historic fabric while creating something, in Emma’s words, “that reflected the time that we’re in.”

What emerged was a monolithic form that took its cues equally from the brutalist gardens of the Barbican Estate to the desert modernism of Palm Springs. Seamlessly enmeshed with the original Victorian house and the verdant shrubs and grasses of the garden, the dramatic split-level design tempers its sculptural scale with an unexpected sense of warmth and calm. The visual harmony owes much to Emma’s intuitive approach to interiors, where natural materials, including oak and board-marked concrete, are left raw and untreated, allowing their textures to speak for themselves.

We spent the morning with Emma and her dog, Rita, as she shared the joys of learning on the job, the challenges of renovation, and the pleasure she finds in embracing contrast.

We wanted a renovation project because Nick and I compliment each other very well. I design and he acts as the foreman. We were super naïve because we’ve done up a few places before and thought it’d take about 12 months – the architects doubled that. Of course, it took three years in the end.

When we first walked into this house, it was very dark. The back of the house was made up of small spaces that completely blocked the access to the garden and any light. One thing that was really important for us was to open everything up. Now when you walk in the house, you feel connected with the garden straight away. We also put a tall window in the staircase, so now the hallway is flooded with light, which is not that common in Victorian houses.

They’d completed two projects I really liked and then we had a meeting and clicked straight away. We wanted to work with a smaller agency that was a bit more personal because I knew that I would want to be involved with the design and I didn’t want to just hand it over to someone. 

They wanted the dimensions of the extension to be appropriate to match the big front rooms. When I saw their drawings, I didn’t really understand how big it was going to be. Honestly, they finished building the structure and I was quite overwhelmed by the scale – but now I think the proportions are perfect and really compliment the Victorian rooms.

What’s been really nice about this project is that I’ve had a chance to be an interior designer, a garden designer and also helped design the electrics and plumbing. It’s just been a challenge on so many levels and it’s been really exciting to learn about all these different areas.

The biggest challenge was that our application was initially refused and we had to appeal. Luckily we had things to get on with and concentrated on the roof and the garden while we were waiting.  We also asked the architects to come up with a plan B. We had the contractors lined up to start, but we didn’t actually know what they were going to build. In the end we risked it and just went for our original design. That was a bit of a gamble but we won the appeal. 

Apart from that, everything has cost a lot more and taken a lot longer than we thought. When you do a timeline, double it and even that isn’t long enough.

We wanted to restore the Victorian part, but there wasn’t really much to restore at the back because it was such a mess. As the old extension was coming down and we felt if we’re going to put something new there, it needed to be something that reflected the time that we’re in.

Initially we wanted to keep all the cornicing and just repair any damages, but as the build went on, cracks started to appear and part of the ceiling fell down. After a while, we made the decision to take them all down and rebuild them. We did a lot of research to try and find cornicing that was as close to the original as possible.

I really like contrasts. I like rusty things against shiny things – the Victorian cornicing and woodwork, which is very detailed and intricate, with brutalist concrete which is so raw. It’s fun. It makes me smile.

One of the things that attracted us to the house was the size of the garden, which is unusual for Stoke Newington. We’re so lucky that it’s south facing and close to Clissold Park. I’ve never had a garden before, so this was all completely new to me. As with other parts of this build, I didn’t want to hand it over to someone else. I did have the help of a good gardener who advised on what would and wouldn’t work. We started with the trees to build a structure and then we added grasses and flowers. I didn’t want a lot of colour in the garden. I’m more interested in textures. You can see that in the house as well. It’s mostly different textures and maybe I’ll add colour over time.

There used to be a brick wall at the end of the garden that had fallen down, so we used those bricks to build the garden house. The windows are the original windows from the extension that used to be here, so it was completely built of reclaimed materials.

One of the weirdest things about moving in was that it still felt like work because that’s what we’ve been doing every day for three years – just coming here and solving problems. This year is where it’s felt most like a home. It feels secluded, almost like you’re not in London when you’re in the extension. It has a real sense of safety and structure.

We were in LA in 2017 and went on an architecture tour of Silver Lake and Palm Springs. That’s when I made the decision that at some point in my life – this is what I want to create. I’ve always been inspired by brutalist architecture as well. The Barbican is one of my favorite spaces in London, especially the contrast between the concrete and vegetation. 

For me, it’s all about textures. I wanted this room to feel natural because it’s close to the garden. I like working with materials that will age; natural woods and metals that we have left untreated and which will patina with age.

We decided to keep it raw and unpolished because I like imperfections. It shows the story of the building process and in a strange way, it has a warmth to it. My mum is actually an architect as well, though she wasn’t a fan of concrete at all.

She loves it! She’s very proud.