WHO LIVES HERE

Architect Mat Barnes, his wife Laura Dubeck and children Aurie and Sidney live in this renovated Edwardian house, located south of the Thames in London. Barnes says the project reflects his belief architecture should represent the personalities and tastes of the users and, just like them, does not need to have a unifying theme. “Architectural ideas and references should be as complex and contradictory as the personalities and tastes of the people who occupy them,” he says. He adds that the house is a reflection of his tastes and also his wife’s. “Although she is not a designer, she has expressed her opinion, like a client faced with an architect’s proposals. And her suggestions are part of the project.”