FEBRUARY 2026
Our Victorian Warehouses near completion in Borough SE1 !
Our two beautiful Victorian warehouses in the heart of Borough, SE1 within the sensitive ‘mint street’ Conservation area of Southwark nears completion! This extensive renovation and extension introduces a penthouse storey across both buildings together with a retrofit of the buildings from offices into residential apartments and a ground floor commercial unit.
JANUARY 2025
Grade II Listed Tanner’s Hill plot goes up for Sale!
“A brilliant opportunity to carve out an intimate and contemporary home”
The house will sit at the end of a terrace of modest, Grade II-listed cottages built in the 17th century to house shipbuilders working in nearby Deptford Dockyard. The dockyard was founded by Henry VIII and formed an important role in the area's development during the 16th and 18th centuries. Something of a local institution, the now Grade II-listed WH Wellbeloved butchers - operational between 1829 and 2021 - sits next door.
If you would like more information please contact The Modern House.
https://themodernhouse.com/sales-list/tanners-hill-iv
DECEMBER 2023
Our 300 year old Grade II Listed cottage gains planning permission.
We recently received Planning and Listed Building consent for a pair of historic houses in Tanner’s Hill, Deptford. Further insight on the design, planning and implementation of careful interventions at our Grade II listed project in Deptford at www.31tannershill.com
“They say the spirit of a building resides in the last half inch of brickwork, or horse hair, lath and plaster in this case!
I love the crooked angles, creaky timbers and rough edges of this house and it was my job as the Architect to protect and showcase this charm as it cannot be recreated. It was clear from the start the proposal we put forward the new house would need to set itself apart from the main listed house. The use of vertical charred black timber cladding is anchored in English naval history and speaks of tar covered timbers used in the building of old ships.
Through our research we uncovered some interesting history. Waste timber was a by-product of the Dockyard, and timber offcuts were customarily used as a payment in kind for the workforce. This timber was used in the construction of the Tanner’s Hill houses.
Its been said that timber lengths or ‘chips’ were hauled along Deptford high street by men one at a time which is where the term ‘chip on your shoulder’ originated.”
Oliver James Ogilvie - Director
JANUARY 2023
A slice of Naval history in Deptford
We have recently been working on former traditional butchers shop in Deptford. This Grade II listed property along Tanner’s Hill is steeped in rich naval history. This complex conversion of timber framed property in the heart of a conservation area requires an endless list of consultants; ranging from planning advisors, heritage consultants, tree officers and even Bat specialists!
This row of cottages along Tanner’s Hill are important buildings and were part of a row of shipbuilder’s houses of 17th century origin. Deptford Dockyard was founded by Henry VIII and was the leading dockyard in the 16th to 18th centuries which expanded the town around its Naval Dockyard.
MAY 2022
Meat market
We were invited to an evening at the month long ‘Meat market’ project by Sophie Nowakowska hosted at our new site 31 Tanner’s Hill.
It featured works by local artists including art installations, short film and photography. Participating artists used old fridges, metal meat displays and the historic rooms to showcase their works.
APRIL 2022
Walking tour
As a pre cursor to our work on former ship wright houses in Deptford, our office delved into the history of Deptford via the ‘museum of Slavery and Freedom’s walking tour of Deptford’ exploring the forgotten relationship the area has with the slave trade and the first ship involved in Britain’s triangular trade which sailed from Deptford ship yard.
We started our walk at Convoys Wharf, a large derelict site by the river, once the base of Captain John Hawkins when it was known as King’s Yard. The naval commander is celebrated as the chief Architect behind the defeat of the Spanish Armada during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, but he also led numerous expeditions where people were captured and forced into slavery.
Since its transformation from a small fishing village to a royal dockyard – now Convoys Wharf – in the 16th century, Deptford has produced hundreds of ships for wars, trade and slavery. Deptford’s history has been tied to Britain’s history of colonialism and slavery for centuries.
The tour covered a variety of history including well-known figures such as the famous diarist John Evelyn, a Deptford resident who profited of the slave trade due to his shares in the Royal African Company and his involvement in the management of the Caribbean slave plantation system.
The tour ended on Tanner’s Hill close to a large iron sculpture of an anchor at the entrance to Deptford High Street which is one of the few obvious clues to its past.
Happily rural
“The Hopkins family, from Kent, love the easy journey to the station”
PETER TARRY- The Times
Kimberley and David Hopkins and their two-year-old twin boys, Jesse and Sebastian, live in the Kent hamlet of Sole Street. Life is happily rural: The Little Shop sells local produce and daily essentials, there’s an active WI and everyone raises money for the church roof.“We’re ten minutes’ walk from Cobham village through the orchards. Being able to take the train from Sole Street station direct to London was a dealbreaker for us,” says Kimberley, 37, an associate director at a communications agency; David, 42, is the managing director of a mystery shopping firm.
Read the full article here;
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-best-villages-with-train-stations-for-part-time-commuters-cvwjlx0v0
“The design of the main gallery spaces, as envisioned by architects Henry Adams and Oliver Oglivie of OO Architects, is built among a triangular formation of trees. “
-LAURA COLLINS, The Architects’ Journal
Tree hugging
‘A new public installation, the TreeHouse Gallery, has been constructed as a temporary series of gallery spaces in London’s Regent’s Park. The initiative provides a unique habitat as part of the Royal Parks summer events programme throughout July and August.
The collaborative work is led by artists and designers Claudia Moseley and Steph Smith along with a diverse mix of emerging and known artists, crafts people, architects, builders, environmental specialists and a variety of arts charities. Independent organisations participating include HighLife TreeHouses, specialists in tree house design; Monkey-Do, tree-climbing and rigging experts; BASH, nature sensitive events organisors; Arcadiam Associates, structural engineers; Bosky Trees, arboricultural and ecology experts.
The design of the main gallery spaces, as envisioned by architects Henry Adams and Oliver James Oglivie of OO Architects, is built among a triangular formation of trees, predominantly from naturally sourced materials and reclaimed city waste. All timber and building materials were donated to the project.
The site, situated on the banks of the Boating Lake, has an array of tree-top structures divided into six named areas: a Spherical Reading Gallery; a Budding Hub Gallery; the Sound Garden; the Medicinal Herbal Gardens; the Round Table and the Orbidesic Dome Stage.‘