Walden is a leafy garden oasis in the heart of London’s Camden

The clever, light-filled flat is designed by Charles Wu of Polysmiths

Longlisted for the UK’s Don’t Move Improve! Awards 2024, this London garden flat by Polysmiths Architects solved a cache of problems with ingenuity, playfulness, and light.

The basement apartment is located between Kentish Town, Gospel Oak, and Tufnell Park on the southern tip of Parliament Hill, within a classic Victorian terrace. Polysmiths director Charles Wu was tasked with transforming the dark and damp basement apartment into a soothing, light-filled oasis that integrates better with its garden setting.

Nicknamed Walden—a nod to Henry David Thoreau’s 1854 book about simple living in natural surroundings—the leafy two-bedroom oasis uses light and natural materials to foster indoor/outdoor living. Polysmiths added a rear, timber-clad extension that flows into the south-facing garden, acting as a climbing frame for vines outside while drawing in light through triple-glazed windows, doors, and frameless roof lights.

The steep pitch of the garden, with Piet Oudolf-inspired planting, puts flora at eye level, making it feel as though the house is burrowing into the garden and that residents are living among the plants, while dramatic shadow play from the cladding further heightens the indoor/outdoor synergy.

Limewashed walls and ashy engineered oak floors create a soothing interior palette, with dark walnut veneer cabinetry and porcelain countertops honing an organic Aesop vibe in the kitchen.

The Modern House is listing the serene two-bedroom Camden garden flat for £950,000. Read more about Wu’s remarkable transformation in the agency’s Journal. 

Photography: The Modern House
Photography: The Modern House
Photography: The Modern House

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