Casadanza I
Manwood Road, London SE4

SOLD

Architect: Chance de Silva

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NOW SOLD. Click here to see details of a newly 2-bedroom flat in the same building.

This outstanding one-bedroom flat is located on the second (top) floor of this new-build development designed by the renowned architects Chance de Silva.

Known as Casadanza, the development comprises three flats and a semi-detached house. This particular flat is, in our opinion, the most covetable of the three, with a dramatic vaulted ceiling that follows the shape of the roofline. The reception room has a projecting bay, which is almost entirely glazed and offers views up and down Manwood Road. This in turn leads to a balcony that faces south and west.

The flat has one double bedroom and a centrally located bathroom. It is accessed via an internal communal stairway, and has an entryphone. Chance de Silva have kept a deliberately “raw”, architectural finish inside the flat, with plywood floors and walls of Knauf ivory-coloured plaster – these could either be sealed or painted.

Chance de Silva’s work has been shortlisted by the RIBA and the Civic Trust, and has been published internationally. For more information about the architects, and about Casadanza, see the History section below. To see details of the two-bedroom house at Casadanza, which is also for sale with The Modern House, click here.

The property is located a short walk from Ladywell station, with services to London Bridge, and Crofton Park, with services to St Pancras. Also within walking
distance is Honor Oak Park station, from where regular fast
services run to London Bridge (12 minutes). The station is also now
part of London Overground, with trains to Dalston via Canada Water
(Jubilee Line), Shadwell (DLR), Shoreditch High Street and Whitechapel
(District and
Hammersmith & City Lines).

Nearby green spaces include Ravensbourne Gardens and Blyth Hill Fields Nature Reserve, as well as the newly transformed Ladywell Fields. Local amenities include the Brockley Jack theatre and pub, Hilly Fields Farmers’ Market, the Horniman Museum, the Broadway Theatre, Honor Oak Gallery, Jam Circus, the Brockley Mess, Ladywell Arena and Aquarius Gold Club.

Tenure: Leasehold with Share of Freehold
Lease: 999 years remaining
Service charge: TBC

Please note that all areas, measurements and distances given in these particulars are approximate and rounded. The text, photographs and floor plans are for general guidance only. The Modern House has not tested any services, appliances or specific fittings — prospective purchasers are advised to inspect the property themselves. All fixtures, fittings and furniture not specifically itemised within these particulars are deemed removable by the vendor.


History

Having acquired a derelict former schoolkeeper’s house, the architects Chance de Silva retained the shell of the existing building and extended it in all directions to make a small residential complex.

With its pitched blue-zinc roof and white-painted brick, the building references its Crofton Park neighbours, but there is also a nod to Alvar Aalto’s houses in Helsinki and Noormarkku.

The name Casadanza refers to the nearby Rivoli Ballroom – the
wonderfully preserved 1950s ballroom that is a still-thriving local
institution.

Chance de Silva describe Casadanza as follows: “We have experimented with dance imagery, for example combining the forms and movement of a pair of dancers with ‘stretching’ the existing box, subdividing it into dwellings of different sizes. In particular the blocky rectangular brickwork erupted into a rakishly tilted ‘hat’, crowning the house and flats respectively. Under the ‘hats’ the ceilings follow the eccentric lines of the sloping roof planes, and rooflights drop in here and there to augment low-level views with high-level illumination.”

The building makes the most of having three different aspects by carefully managing the views and the natural light.

Chance de Silva have become particularly well known for designing intelligent and experimental new-build houses. Each incorporates characteristics of the local area and is tailored to the requirements of the client.

For example, a house in Highbury called Venus, which occupies a site on a very private and “defensive” street, opens up at higher levels to permit views and let in light.

Cargo Fleet, built in 2005, is clad in Cor-Ten steel and larch. This ‘lifetime live-work’ home can be used flexibly to accommodate the
changes in circumstance of occupants over a lifetime. It could be one
larger dwelling, containing a home-office, or two smaller houses. Writing about the project in the Architects’ Journal, Andrew Wulf declared that it “successfully addresses the changing face of the domestic”.

To see details of the two-bedroom house at Casadanza, which is also for sale with The Modern House, click here.

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