Inside a Dazzling Zaha Hadid–Designed Home in London
During her lifetime, Zaha Hadid was devoted to pushing architecture in the direction of modernity. By the time of her death in 2016, her résumé was the envy of any architect, and she was the winner of countless competitions and awards, including the lauded 2004 Pritzker Prize. Yet Hadid designed only two single residential homes, both of which have remained somewhat out of view from the public eye. One, situated in the dense forests surrounding Moscow, appears more extraterrestrial than building. The other, nestled at the end of a historic, cobblestoned street in Belgravia, London, is the pinnacle of postmodern residential flair.
“This London home is such a little surprise that no one really knows about,” explains Bidisha Sinha, an associate director at Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA) and project manager for the Belgravia dwelling. “Zaha was certainly asked by many people around the globe to design their family home, but I suspect time was the real [limiting] factor. She was extremely involved with the development of each ZHA design. I’m talking about national museums, research institutes, railway stations, and airports. These major projects were intense, and demanded her full attention and talent.”
Nevertheless, starting in 2010, one lucky family was afforded the inimitable architect’s attention and talent. “The homeowners were friends and patrons of Zaha’s,” recalls Sinha, who, from start to finish, played a hand in every part of the home’s complicated process. “They knew each other for many years, which meant [Zaha] understood their real commitment to bold architecture and forward-leaning design. Everything about this home began with exceptional trust between owner and architect, which, I think, is a very good place to create an inviting family space.”
Completed in 2017 (roughly one year after Hadid’s sudden death), the strikingly modern four-floor home is located at the end of a landmarked street in the neighborhood. Surrounding the house is a series of Mews homes, beautiful relics of 18th-century London when Victorian homes featured a visibly separate space for stable horses. In fact, the street is so well protected that ZHA had to use small trucks carrying limited weight so as not to harm the cobblestoned street. “Unlike any other building site, nothing could be stored at the location,” says Sinha. “Everything had to be installed same day, within an eight-hour window [of time]. So it was quite a precise scheduling process which, for some, would’ve been a headache. But we really leaned in and found it all the more exciting.”
Positioned in such traditional confines, ZHA’s design proved that a boldly abstract residential home could still remain true to its historic roots. To be sure, what makes this home so beautiful is the ways in which it challenges the norms without simultaneously challenging the eye. The house, like all works of great art, has the distinct DNA of its creator. Anyone who cares about architecture can glance at this London home and know just whose hands molded it.
Photo: Luke Hayes1/16“It was really exciting for us to play with traditional British notions of what makes a house, such as brick exteriors,” Sinha says, explaining the choice of white brick. “But the brick had to be perfectly placed because the homeowners needed a sense of security. So within the framework of a traditional exterior, we used a robot to lay the bricks in a specific pattern.” The highly technical approach resulted in a beautifully sinuous reveal of the home.
Art: Kristin Baker2/16Inside the home, an acrylic balustrade designed by ZHA sits atop Dinesen floor planks made from the wood of Douglas fir trees. In the home’s original design, this space contained a swimming pool and treadmill. “Zaha wanted a feeling of space and air,” says Sinha. “So she punched through the floor, protecting one side with a balustrade while allowing the basement flood of natural light.”
3/16ZHA’s design was tweaked and reworked to fit the needs of the clients and how they would use the space. For example, traditional sash windows (which work with a counter pulley system) were installed across two rooms on two floors.
4/16“What is nice about Belgravia is that it’s a historic conservation area, meaning you can’t go crazy with any renovation,” says Sinha. “You have to respect the boundary that’s been set by Westminster. When we approached the government with our design, the first thing [they] wanted to know was: ‘Mews is a very traditional English architectural feature, and Zaha’s such a contemporary designer. What do you have in mind?’ Yet, once [they] saw the plans for traditional materials, the connection to English history with a garden in the back, they were on board.”
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Art: © 2023 Morgan Art Foundation Ltd / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. © 2023 Richard Anuszkiewicz / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.5/16The staircases were done in a cast of ultra-high-performance concrete, and “were extremely precise,” says Sinha. “We created this system so that every corner got the perfect amount of concrete, making it both exact and strong.”
6/16Thanks to the traditional sash window’s counter pulley system, two bedrooms have open-air access to the private vertical garden in the back of the home.
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7/16The homeowners enjoyed entertaining, and wanted ZHA to bring as much natural light into their living room as possible.
8/16A view from the stairs looking down, over the balustrade, and into the basement below.
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9/16Zaha Hadid’s designs included furniture, cooking islands, and chandeliers; many of which spent time on display at New York’s Guggenheim Museum. Here, the bronze bar in the back was created by liquid metal, allowing ZHA to create a bespoke design.
10/16The home, which includes three bedrooms, three baths, and a powder room, features a ZHA-designed bathtub as well.
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11/16A look inside an all-white bathroom, which includes a sink designed by ZHA.
12/16Inside of a closet, curved GRG ceiling panels add volume and character to an otherwise banal space.
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13/16Built within the confines of a historic street, ZHA successfully gave the home a distinct architectural language while maintaining approval from the local planning authority of Westminster Council.
Art: © Francesco Clemente. © Damien Hirst and Science Ltd. All rights reserved / DACS, London / ARS, NY 2023.14/16The prefabricated concrete staircase was created in collaboration with Ivanka, a Hungarian-based design company.
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15/16The homeowners allowed ZHA a great amount of creative freedom, while still requesting a healthy level of privacy. The layout needed to be a mix of public entertaining spaces and private areas closed off from certain areas of the home.
16/16“Zaha always harped on the importance of bringing the same design rigor no matter the scale,” explains Sinha. “And while [she] passed away a year prior to completion, I know she would have been immensely proud of the final design.”
