A four-storey red brick residential building on Drummond Street in London’s Euston, dating from the 1980s, has been retrofitted with two new floors added on top, accommodating five new apartments.
The new building, dubbed Trace, echoes the area’s history of Georgian terraces with a façade formed of vertical arched openings arranged within rustications. The front façade has larger windows while to the rear enclosed balconies act as winter gardens.
The building has reused the original foundations and structure while the new façade was formed using materials harvested from the demolition process. The mid-brown bricks of the earlier 1980s façade were crushed together with other demolition waste to create the visible aggregate in the new façade’s composite cladding panels. The rusticated texture of the façade is emphasised by the colour of the panels, which range from cream to salmon-pink, adding visual depth and interest to its surface.
The first, second, and third-floor flats are two-bedroom apartments, while the two fourth and fifth-storey units are one-bedroom duplexes. The double-aspect living areas have cranked plans, defining different areas for different activities. Flats on the first, second and third floor floors are provided with rear-facing balconies offering out-door amenity space, while the upper floor duplexes have generous terraces.
Architect’s view
Trace looks both backwards and forwards. By combining traditional architectural memory with contemporary fabrication, we’ve created a building rooted in its context yet designed for future living. The circular principle of repurposing the façade became a guiding idea, both environmentally and conceptually for the project as a whole.
Billy Mavropoulos, co-founder and director, Bureau de Change
Client’s view
Trace demonstrates how far we can push reuse. We chose to work with what the site already had, minimising waste. Transforming the brick façade into the new envelope and selecting other recycled or low-impact materials throughout makes for a uniquely sustainable expression of the building’s continuity.
Dicle Guntas, managing director, HGG London
Project data
Location Euston, London
Start on site May 2024
Completion December 2025
Gross internal floor area 400m2
Form of contract Traditional
Architect Bureau de Change architects
Client HGG London
Main contractor HGG Construction
Structural engineer HRW
M&E consultant Integration
Planning consultant Maddox
CDM co-ordinator Base Solutions
Approved building inspector London Building Control