The original building was the studio and home of stone sculptor Keith Bailey, well known in the Cambridge area for his stone carving, lettering and collaborative efforts with Scottish artist Ian Hamilton Finlay. The new highly insulated house slots into the terrace, the metal gate making reference to the garage doors of the stone workshop, which slides across the street facade.

Five metres by thirty, the accommodation has been carefully packed onto the compact plot. The clients were looking to downsize whilst also providing a private place for their daughter to live when studying in the city. In order to achieve this, A separate apartment sits above the entrance facing onto the street, whilst the rest of the house extends underneath and through to a pitched volume clad in charred timber at the rear.

Internally, the scheme draws its richness from the character of the clients with pops of colour, materials and textures dispersed throughout. The sawtooth roof at the centre of the building drops light into the kitchen and dining area, whilst providing privacy from the neighbouring apartments. The exposed steel beams painted red, allude to the industrial qualities of the old studio.