Henning Stummel’s Tin House

Near the vibrant Shepherds Bush Green area of West London, there is a revitalized area of shops, houses, flats and roof terraces, some up to 4 stories in height. Right in the middle of this is a space where award-winning architect Henning Stummel chose to build a home and office building. With an original, contemporary look and an artistic choice of materials, the completed construction dubbed the »Tin House« has been named a finalist for the World Architecture Festival Award 2016 and the RIBA House of the Year 2016 Award. The Tin House is already a winner of the RIBA London Award 2016.

With the objective of creating an environmentally conscious residence that occupies its place among the surrounding buildings with confidence, Stummel used a contemporary design mixed with craftsmanship details. The Tin House maximizes space through six interconnected pyramidal pods where the color coated steel GreenCoat PLX Pro BT was chosen as the only material for the entire exterior of the construction, both for the roofs and façades. This gives cohesiveness to the separate, yet conjoined units allowing the project to create a dialogue with the warm, earthy London stock brick that surrounds the site.

For the installation of the exterior, Stummel made use of many traditional tinsmith skills and opted for narrower seam centers of 500 mm as opposed to the more common 600 mm, which worked better with the chosen windows and doors. This, coupled with the use of an angled and 100 percent watertight seam, helped to create the modest and utilitarian finish. Besides being well known among tinsmiths for its easy hand forming, long color retention as well as resistance to corrosion and scratches, GreenCoat PLX Pro BT features a Bio-based Technology (BT) with a substantial portion of the traditional fossil part replaced by Swedish rapeseed oil. This unique, patented solution by SSAB reduces the environmental footprint of the house significantly.

As a finalist for the World Architecture Festival Award 2016 as well as the RIBA House of the Year 2016 Award, the Tin House has been recognized by architects and builders worldwide in addition to being featured on the UK television program »House of the Year 2016«. RIBA awards and prizes have been honoring the best architecture in the UK and around the world for the past 50 years. The World Architecture Festival (WAF) is the world’s largest international gathering of architects.

Tin House – GreenCoat® in award-winning architecture

Henning Stummel Architects

Near the vibrant Shepherds Bush Green area of West London, there is a revitalized area of shops, houses, flats and roof terraces. Right in the middle of this is a space where architect Henning Stummel chose to build a home and office building.

The Tin House is currently awarded and nominated for:

2017 House of the Year, AJ Architecture Awards
2017 Winner Iconic Awards
2017 Shortlisted BD’s Architect of the Year Awards,
UK – Individual House
2016 Winner RIBA London Award
2016 Shortlisted World Building of the Year, WAF
2016 Shortlisted RIBA National House of the Year
2016 Shortlisted Stephen Lawrence Prize

7 questions for Henning about GreenCoat® as a platform for award-winning constructions:

What are the benefits of using the GreenCoat PLX Pro BT material?

In the case of the Tin House, we began by looking at all materials. What was important was ensuring that we could get a colored finish that would be long lasting – something that wouldn’t fade – in order to preserve the unique look for decades to come. The fact that GreenCoat PLX Pro BT features a coating with environmentally friendly properties is an equally important benefit.

Why did you choose steel for the roof and façade and not other materials?

Steel has the lowest expansion co-efficient compared to aluminum, copper and even zinc. This makes the material extremely durable and ensures that it will not deform over the years.

What were the challenges you had to overcome while designing the Tin House?

The main challenge was building a house without gutters. On the courtyard side, water comes straight off the roof and goes into a drainage strip. The other side of the house has a boundary wall. For this we used concealed gutters as well as a Swedish detail, where a roof gutter is tucked under the strips that come down, so that water still drains completely on the property. Since GreenCoat PLX Pro BT is easy to form, we were able to obtain the desired rainwater function and style.

What can you tell me about the quality of GreenCoat® in general?

It is a great material and I am very much satisfied. GreenCoat PLX Pro BT could be easily cut and formed to create custom details on the non-rectangular buildings.

What makes GreenCoat® a more sustainable material?

Normally, paints include fossil based oil. The paint used on the Tin House includes a substantial portion of Swedish rapeseed oil, which is unique on the market. It was important for me to place a sustainable focus on the choice of material.

Do you have more examples in which GreenCoat® is being used?

Yes, we are currently working on a housing scheme for a number of small affordable houses to be built in a suburb of London. We plan to use GreenCoat PLX Pro BT for the roofs.

How do you feel about being nominated to the WAF?

Obviously it is really exciting. When you have a good project that is worth submitting, it feels good to be nominated. I don’t know what to expect other than to confront some very reputable projects from the other nominees. My specialty is to work with small spaces in cities that are already completely built-up. Hopefully, my style will also be competitive for this award.

Download brochure

GreenCoat® proudly presents the Tin House London

445 Kb

Order your samples for correct color reproduction!

Vibrant and made to last - GreenCoat® samples are available in a great variety of matt, gloss and metallic surfaces as well as for wide range of different building applications.

Order here