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 theArchitects' Journal, Andrew Wulf declared that it "successfully addresses the changing face of the domestic".