The site consists of a Victorian terraced building on the Fulham Road hosting a retail unit at ground and basement level, and two flats above on the first and second floor. The clients’ brief was to create a cutting edge residential dwelling in the rear mews that would convert an underused yard and a poorly yielding commercial basement space into higher value residential usage. The project had several challenges. Firstly, the site was very hemmed-in and it was not possible to have conventional, outward facing windows. The project was subject to a wide array of contextual, technical and regulatory constraints. Perhaps the most challenging endeavour was to insert new construction under an existing building all the while keeping the commercial activity running on the ground floor. This was achieved through careful planning and extremely complex ground, temporary and steel works which took months to design. The result of this spatial conundrum is a house that allows the passer by to see very little from the outside but reveals wonders of space and light from the first step inside. The only street-facing elevation is a large, blank brick wall interrupted only by two recesses on each side. One of these recesses accommodates the front door to the house which opens to a corridor covered by a very long and narrow roof light. This constitutes the ‘spine’ of the building and it develops into a dramatic double height space. Every habitable room of the house is arranged either around a central courtyard or a lightwell which together bring light and air in to the house. The design of the house around a central courtyard is a nod to traditional London mews houses where stables and carriage houses were often arranged around a courtyard. The extensive use of highly reflective glazing and mirrors allows the design of the house to maximize volume and exposure to light. It helps to transform a partially subterranean, north-facing space with virtually no external windows into a ‘cathedral of light’. Lightyard house is shortlisted for an RIBA 2021 Award. All images © copyright Nick Kane