Our homes are a celebration of who we are and an opportunity to express ourselves to the loved ones we invite into these spaces.
Here, artist Zoe Papadopoulou reflects on the process of designing two homes with PAD – Aperture House in London and St. John’s House in Essex – both of which not only shape the celebration of life’s meaningful moments, but also celebrate Zoe’s personality.
I came across PAD’s work nine years ago. I was building a home in London and needed an architect who could work quickly. PAD was the perfect studio to work with, and I love the home we created together. Then, I met my partner five years ago. She lives in Essex and it was tiring travelling from London all the time. We found a site in the village of Wivenhoe, and I approached PAD again.
My dream is to live in a greenhouse! So, the brief was for lots of light. I also wanted to be able to do things that I couldn’t do in London. Aperture House is built on a very compact site and PAD did a brilliant job of splitting the sunken living room and the kitchen so that I had space to entertain and celebrate. With the new house, however, we had the luxury of a decent sized plot. I want to host lots of friends here, so need big, open spaces.
The house is split into two sections – the kitchen and 10-seat dining room has large doors to the garden, and the living room has room for a sofa bed so I can sleep eight people. The three bedrooms are arranged so that even when we have a full house everyone has privacy.
We had eight people in the house last Christmas and it was a bit crazy! When I moved into the house, we also hosted around 40 of our neighbours. They had been so supportive during the construction and I wanted to throw a big party to say thank you. We moved the furniture, put music on, and everyone was dancing. It was very different from the housewarming party in the London house. There, we had dinner and conversation around the table and then moved into the sunken living room. Celebrating in this house was wild but it really made me fall in love with it!
The thing I love about PAD is the way they celebrate light and introduce it in unexpected ways. They did that really successfully with the London house, using varying levels and skylights, and we took the same approach here.
My partner laughs at me because if I see someone outside and they say they’ve been watching progress on the house, I just invite them in!
The site was pretty wild – it was full of weeds and old concrete slabs. I started an Instagram account and spoke with all the neighbours before we put in planning. One neighbour even gave me some old photographs of local boat building sheds that inspired the wood cladding and the pitched roof.
The thing I love about PAD is the way they celebrate light and introduce it in unexpected ways. They did that really successfully with the London house, using varying levels and skylights, and we took the same approach here.
Everyone says they feel like they are on holi- day when they stay here as it’s so light, even on grey days. I’m from Cyprus and, although I’ve been in the UK for 33 years, I still miss the light. I have this huge, round window in my bedroom and two skylights. I wake up when the sun rises and it’s been a revela- tion! When you’re in bed and the light and weather changes, it’s very dramatic. It’s like being in a James Turrell installation.
It’s also why we put in a pink kitchen and yellow walls. In the depths of winter, it’s nice to see a big splash of colour, like a bit of sunshine. I did think that maybe I should be a grown up and go for calm, monochrome colours but I couldn’t do it! I like to celebrate colour and light.
