The Arbour House is a residential project by architect Andrei Saltykov located in London that uses timber cladding and articulated volumes to define indoor and outdoor living spaces. The house extends from an existing structure with a series of new timber-framed volumes that frame a garden courtyard, allowing natural light to enter multiple rooms while maintaining privacy from the street. External walls are clad in vertical timber boards that respond to the surrounding garden context and integrate weathering considerations for long-term durability.
Internally, the layout is organised to prioritise living, dining, and kitchen areas toward the rear of the site, with bedrooms and utility spaces positioned toward the entry side. Large glazing panels and sliding doors connect interior spaces to the garden courtyard. Roof forms are articulated to support daylight penetration and to manage rainwater run-off within the site boundary. Materials are selected for thermal performance and visual continuity across inside and outside surfaces.
Image Credit: French+Tye, Andrei Saltykov
What Makes This Trend Stand Out
- Timber-clad Modular Living
- A growing emphasis on timber-clad, articulated volumes creates potential for prefabricated modular systems that harmonize aesthetics with rapid on-site assembly.
- Biophilic Courtyard Integration
- Designs that prioritize framed garden courtyards and operable glazed connections are enabling new forms of indoor-outdoor living that redefine privacy and daylight strategies in dense urban plots.
- Performance-driven Material Expression
- Visible use of timber for both thermal performance and weathering resilience is opening avenues for materials that combine long-term durability with a cultivated architectural finish.
Sectors Adopting This
- Residential Architecture
- Architectural practices focused on infill housing are encountering demand for volumetric additions that balance contextual sensitivity with enhanced daylighting and spatial flow.
- Prefab Construction
- Manufacturers of off-site timber frames and panelized systems are positioned to supply scalable components tailored to courtyard-forming extensions and rapid urban retrofits.
- Sustainable Building Materials
- Producers of engineered timber and long-life cladding treatments are being called on to deliver products that meet structural, thermal, and aesthetic expectations for contemporary residential projects.
