The architect Richard Paxton was born in 1956. Having studied at Kingston University, he went to work in the offices of Ahrends, Burton & Koralek, where he was involved in the design of the Cummins Diesel Factory in Scotland. In 1985 he established his own practice with his future wife, Heidi Locher, who had formerly worked for Terence Conran.

Paxton Locher designed both the Soho Theatre and the Jerwood Space in Southwark. However, they are best known for the significant domestic projects they have undertaken both for themselves and for distinguished clients, including Douglas Adams and Griff Rhys Jones.

Notable among them is a modern courtyard house in Clerkenwell, which has been described by the architecture critic Kenneth Powell as “one of the great London houses of the late 20th century”. There is also a penthouse flat in Highbury, which Paxton Locher designed for their own use as part of the conversion of a former industrial building in the 1990s. With its dramatic living space and internal swimming pool, it became one of the most iconic apartments of its time. The property was sold by The Modern House in 2011 (click here for details).

In 2002, Richard Paxton started work on another home for his family in a Primrose Hill mews. Mirroring the house at Clerkenwell Green, it was designed to take natural light from above via expansive rooflights. It also featured a studio for Heidi Locher, who was increasingly focused on painting rather than architecture.

The house on Gayton Road is the most recent and arguably the finest of Paxton Locher's residential projects. Typically, it makes expert use of a restricted site, concentrating the views upwards and opening itself to the sky, and contains many of their signature design elements, including the retractable roof and internal swimming pool.