Druid Grove
CAN’s latest project turns a typical London terrace into something closer to a living artwork. The architects have extended and refurbished a three-bedroom home in East Dulwich, London for a visual artist, balancing nature-heavy hyperrealism with domestic intimacy.
Named Druid Grove for its mystical and grounding qualities, the house weaves together an eclectic mix of natural and monumental elements, both fabricated and real, into material-rich spaces that feel part stage set, part sanctuary.
Asked by CAN to share inspiration unrelated to architecture, the client shared their brief through a set of hyper-real natural scenes, modern steel structures and dripping floral arrangements. Director and lead architect Mat Barnes ran with it, turning the energy into a built reality. The priority was to create a dynamic and open environment that maximises natural light while bringing in an experimental yet cohesive mix of materials to create a unique and personal dwelling.
Druid Grove mixes subtle reconfiguration alongside daring architectural gestures. A half-metre rear extension and removal of a central structural wall unlocked the ground floor plan, reorganising it around a central antechamber, transformed from a dark underutilised dining area into a key introductory space . The antechamber, set with a bar, is flanked by a pair of cave-like openings concealing sliding pocket doors and setting the scene for the rough cast texture of the kitchen and dining area.
The front living room is painted entirely in a creamy white to maintain visual continuity and emphasise the architectural gesture of the cave openings. Flooring consists of Douglas fir plywood panels, oiled to highlight natural texture and grain.
The kitchen is transformed from a dark, pokey outrigger into an open, customised space defined by a 4 metre long meandering stainless steel kitchen island set with integrated hobs and fully welded in sink for a seamless finish. This was fabricated in two pieces, carried through the living room window for installation. The new kitchen pantry combines custom design with existing construction systems: internal carcasses are built from IKEA components, wrapped in Douglas Fir plywood stained with warm burnt orange linseed oil.
Adding to the feeling of exaggerated natural forms, overhead timber trusses are imagined as growing tendrils, stained pale green. Designed by CAN in collaboration with the client, the patterns were printed and traced, hand cut by the contractor on site. Set against the grey rough cast texture of the kitchen is an elevation of custom glazed Palet tiles in varying pink and orange tones. A high gloss pale pinky-cream paint bounces light through the room.
Outside, is CAN’s imaginative answer to a privacy device. Standing sentinel to the ground floor extension in the garden is a single standing stone or ‘menhir’, a physical and symbolic anchor that provides privacy from neighbouring views. Chosen by the client and architect at a stone farm in Cornwall, it was safely yet nailbitingly craned over the house and into position. Last moved by the glacier that deposited it 15,000 years ago, this ancient rock adds to the cave-like sense of protection and enclosure, standing in contrast to the spacey steel canopy of the patio. The stone’s presence sets the tone for the home’s connection to nature: elemental, experimental and entirely personal.
The material palette is eclectic and expressive, showing CAN’s knack for creating cohesive, progressive and unexpected interiors. An alternate-thread staircase connects the main bedroom to a retained mezzanine, where a standalone bathtub offers a private, contemplative retreat within the eaves.
A deep blue study and second bedroom echoes cinematic FX backdrops, while a large home office and studio draws from a palette of green and pink. A shower room part of the main ensuite on the top floor features a striking green terrazzo shower wall panel with purposefully broken edges, mimicking the organic gestures found throughout the home.
For CAN, Druid Grove is a continuation of their exploration of responsive architecture: translating the client's personal mythology into built form, embracing hands-on processes and favouring material richness over uniformity. The result is a home that sits between the everyday and the extraordinary - a quiet monument where domestic life unfolds against a backdrop of creativity.
