Iqbal Johal

sTEEL
SANCTUARY

Turning House

Turning House
A Material Chosen from the Start

First conceived in 2021, with construction starting in late 2022, galvanized steel has been integral to this scheme since its inception. The flexibility, durability, availability and affordability of the material in its various types has allowed the design and construction of many bespoke elements, without which the project would have been very different.

The heart of the layout is a rotation of 45° between ground and first floor. The resulting overlay of geometries creates characterful spaces throughout the home that are articulated in exposed structural elements, deployed as finishes, with galvanized steel in several forms prominent in the palette of materials.

Industrial Honesty in a Domestic Setting

The use of both pre-galvanized and post galvanized steel  is relatively unusual for a domestic building in the UK. From the exposed soffit of the first floor slab: a commercial type composite slab with a profiled galvanized steel surface that creates an outstanding effect above the kitchen, to ducting for the MVHR system, that snakes its way around the ground floor in an unabashed industrial aesthetic.

Turning House

However, the use of galvanized elements in this design is much more than surface. The fundamental element to the building is a steel frame, large sections of which are post-fabrication galvanized to protect them in locations where they are exposed or moisture might appear. 

The cantilevered beams supporting the first floor overhangs are all galvanized where they sit close to or outside the dew point. First floor terrace paving and timber soffits below are designed with concealed guttering to deal with the majority of surface water. However, the system overall is porous, allowing moisture to pass through rather than collect in inaccessible part of the building. This was made possible with a galvanized frame within the cantilevered terrace. 

These members are not visible externally, but galvanized and painted beams and connections are strong visual elements inside the main spaces of the house. 

A further critical structural element is the balustrade to an upper terrace, post-fabrication galvanized posts that cradle toughened glass panels, and, hidden below the finish, support the rainwater system. The strength of steel plate allows an elegant solution, with countersunk bolt connections and no traditional fixings to the glass. A powder coat finish was also applied to these, giving further protection against corrosion, but their inherent durability relies on good galvanizing.

 

Turning House
Galvanizing Made It Possible

The clients are delighted with their new home, and are thrilled with the results, which would not have been practical or affordable without the tried and tested methods of galvanizing.

Information provided by Louise Crossman Architects

Louise Crossman Architects
Project Gallery
Louise Crossman Architects 0814_RTCH_230425-min
Louise Crossman Architects 0725_RTCH_230425
Louise Crossman Architects 0860_RTCH_240425
4 - 3D VIEW GAGA
Turning House
Turning House
Turning House
Turning House

Project Information

Next Article

Industria High Density Development

  • London
Industria, in Barking and Dagenham, represents an ambitious approach to modern industrial space design and is the first light industrial scheme of its kind in the UK. On a tight brownfield site in the River Road Employment Area, Haworth Tompkins and Ashton Smith Associates, working with Be First, have created the UK’s first multi-storey light-industrial scheme of its kind.

Harzer Hexenreich Observation Tower

  • Germany
In the Thuringian area of the Harz Mountains, a new symbol has risen: the Harzer Hexenreich, a roughly 70m high observation tower near Ellrich. Its striking form, an oversized witch’s broom, draws on regional mythology while signalling a clear commitment to durable construction using steel and high-quality corrosion protection.

The Sentinel Steel Observation Tower

  • Suffolk
Housestead is a low-impact, self-built rural dwelling conceived by its owner-architects as a prototype for regenerative estate-based living. Within the protected landscape of the Suffolk Coast & Heaths (AONB/SSSI), the project reclaims a remote site by reworking familiar rural typologies into a precise cruciform plan of four elemental volumes: Living, Sleeping, Working and Utility.

Socially Inclusive Architecture in Rosenheim

  • Rosenheim
Inclusion may be a political aspiration, yet its translation into built form remains a challenge in many places. The Wendelstein Workshops in Rosenheim, Upper Bavaria, demonstrate how inclusive architecture for people with physical or cognitive disabilities can be delivered with both functional rigour and architectural clarity. Designed by studio lot (Altötting) and opposite office (Munich) in collaboration with hanfstingl architekten

Energy Efficient Home Extension by Knott Architects

  • London
Returning clients of Knott Architects, approached them with a familiar challenge: a much-loved home whose fabric, performance and relationship to the garden no longer matched the way they wanted to live. Rather than simply adding more floor area, the project set out to reframe the lower ground floor as a generous, light-filled living level..

Pandion Contemporary Office Building

  • Berlin, Germany
Pandion OFFICEHOME Zinc is a commercial office building in Berlin Friedrichshain that brings together flexible workplace requirements with a robust architectural response to a former industrial site.

Revitalized Workshop

  • London
In the bustling heart of East London, a remarkable transformation has taken place at 469 Bethnal Green Road, breathing new life into a former textile workshop. Originally slated for demolition, the building now stands as a testament to innovative design and sustainability, blending history with modernity through an imaginative refurbishment and extension.

Giving New Life to a 1960s Greenhouse

An hour outside Vienna, stands a greenhouse that has an interesting story to tell. It's hot-dip galvanized steel structure, dating back to the 1960s, once formed part of a nursery in St. Pölten.

Centre for Language and Movement

In Berlin’s Gropiusstadt, a neighbourhood long seen as the embodiment of 1960s functional housing estates, a new building is redefining what integration means — socially, urbanistically, and architecturally.

1897 Stephen’s Car Sculpture

  • Clevedon, England
On the windswept Severn Estuary, Clevedon presents one of the harshest seaside environments for any car sculpture to endure. It was here that a striking new monument was unveiled: a full-scale steel recreation of the Stephens Prototype AE-174, the groundbreaking Victorian petrol-powered motorcar designed by Richard Stephens in 1897 and released to the public in 1898.
Scroll to Top