Swarovski House is given extensive coverage in the book David Adjaye Houses (Thames & Hudson). Peter Allison writes:

“The widespread construction of basements in 18th- and 19th-century London was discussed by John Summerson in his book Georgian London. The earth from the basement was used to raise the level of the road, leaving a short flight of steps to the front door. The back garden, however, remained at its natural level but was not accessible from the reception rooms on the floor above. The reconfiguration of Swaovski House addresses this issue by placing a living space at basement level, which, due to its height, has a spatial connection with the front door.

“In a London terrace house, the staircase forms a vertical element running through all floors and spatial interaction with the spaces it serves is limited, as in the main staircase in the Ofili house. In Swarovski House, the staircase’s containment, position and orientation is different at every level and its detailing is intimately linked with each of the spaces it serves. It forms a promenade architecturale, connecting the basement to the roof.

“Although the window openings of the original house have been retained, the rebuilding of the interior can be seen from the outside. From the street, the treads of a staircase are visible as they move in a transverse direction across the space that would previously have been the reception room, and, looking up, it is possible to see the sky through the new rooflight in the main bedroom. On the back façade, the floor of the new bathroom cuts across one window and lines up with the sill of another, so that a chair appears where convention suggests there should not be a floor for it to stand on. These interventions are more legible due to the replacement windows on the upper floors of the back wall.

“Coming through the front door, a cranked staircase ascending into a top-lit space provides an immediate introduction to the themes of the house. The wall it stands against has three openings: the bathroom door on the landing, a window that slides past the staircase itself, and a doorway onto a small internal balcony. The window and the balcony introduce the internal architecture of the basement living space.

“Unusually for a London terrace house, the two-storey basement space acknowledges each of the key levels resulting from the remodelling of the ground before the first construction began. With its exceptional height, boarded surfaces and the balcony and window on the inside wall, this could be an external space. It is unclear whether we should understand the house as an extension of the garden, or the garden as an extension of the house.

Above the living spaces, the bathroom and the main bedroom are positioned at intermediate levels on the way to the roof; both are integrated with the staircase as it winds its way upwards. The gain in height is marked by a change of material, birch plywood replacing oak boards. A small study at roof level peeps over the butterfly-section parapet on the back façade, its exterior clad in iroko timber.”