new practice ByOthers hand-builds its studio in south london as a concrete-free space

the garden studio nestles in a terraced plot 

New architecture office ByOthers has designed and hand-built their own Garden Studio in Peckham, South London, to explore development and construction, and set the tone for a practice that values doing as much as discussing. A team of four, ByOthers was founded by Richard Keys in late 2020 on collaboration, action, and cross-disciplinary thinking principles. Driven to deliver environmentally and socially beneficial projects through a holistic response to place and people, the practice operates alongside a development arm, Places ByOthers, to bring forward self-initiated projects, and a construction arm, Built ByOthers, to realize them.

The timber-framed Garden Studio marks ByOthers’ first completed work and sits at the rear of a terraced plot. Accessible only through the house at the front of the site, the workspace comprises materials carried by hand through the home’s narrow hallway. The resulting shape reveals three tapering blocks joined in a stepped form; each block offers space for different functions — work, meeting, and utilities. A ridgeline steps from corner to corner, creating a playful, undulating roof that is expressed internally.

byothers explores concrete-free building 

Born out of a desire to test concrete-free construction, the studio is built from a lightweight timber frame set atop a timber raft, hovering on the ground, supported by deep screw-pile foundations that the practice installed manually to mitigate the need for a concrete strip base. Furthermore, ByOthers clad the studio in a series of custom corten steel panels with each U-shape beam inverted to expose the fastening method and celebrate the studio’s construction. Due to the angular geometry of the roofline, each steel panel features a unique measurement and dedicated placement on the exterior. To ensure the panels were installed in the correct location, ByOthers designed a geometric code of triangles and lines laser-cut into their bases.

ByOthers continued its experimental approach inside the Garden Studio, testing the application of materials like clayworks plaster and a natural, vegetable-based timber oil. The team also designed a custom bathroom and kitchen pod of iridescent dipped steel that contrasts against the soft texture of timber throughout, throwing light around the space. Heavily insulated with sheep’s wool to reduce heat loss, the working area offers a comfortable internal climate year-round.

Completing the timber volume is a large glass pivot door that opens on an alfresco sitting area in the verdant garden. Planters at the base of the stepped side elevation bed the studio into its setting, creating a vibrant contrast between the rust-colored corten and deep green ferns and foliage.

The Garden Studio encapsulates ByOthers’ dynamic approach to doing, unafraid of the challenges of architecture at any scale. The young practice is completing a large-scale interior fit-out for an outdoor educational facility and a new build passive house in Yorkshire, in conjunction with a new brownfield residential development and mixed-use multi-unit developments in London.

Richard Keys, Director at ByOthers, shares: ‘The Garden Studio is an example of how we test, develop, implement and challenge the process of architecture, just on a micro-scale. This site was landlocked and underused, but we saw potential. There was no access and terrible ground conditions, but the team quickly found solutions. These didn’t compromise our design values and, in fact, shaped it for the better. We seek out challenges, whether they are with the site, the brief, or the construction. Having an open mind and a broad understanding is ingrained within everything we do.‘

project info:

name: Garden Studio 

location: Peckham, South London, UK

client: ByOthers | @_byothers

architecture & landscape: ByOthers 

structural engineering: London Structures Lab 

photography: Lorenzo Zandri | @lorenzozandri 

start date: September 2021 

completion date: August 2022 

gross internal area: 20 sqm 

gross external area: 4 sqm