The flat occupies one of the two-storey maisonettes Finch designed as the building’s basic unit: living, kitchen and dining on the entrance level, bedrooms and bathrooms above, reached by a timber stair. For the past six years, it has been both home and, quietly, an ongoing project for two architects, who have renovated and refined it one considered decision at a time rather than in a single refit. Six years of that attention shows. Everything here has a place, a purpose and a reason for being where it is, and the prevailing order is calming rather than austere: a flat arranged for reading, conversing and retreating into deep, contemplative thought. The aesthetic register is taken from the building itself. Rather than working against a 1968 panel-built tower, the owners have taken their cues from it and riffed on them in a contemporary key, so that the interior reads as a continuation of Finch’s work rather than a correction of it. Much of the furniture was made for the flat, and made in the building’s own language: folded sheet steel, textured glass and corrugated polycarbonate, panel construction in miniature, echoing that of the tower. Pops of colour, in the form of an amber jug, an orange work lamp or a constellation of painted timber balls, keep what is otherwise a serious space in check, serving as playful reminders. It is a home that has been thought about, reconsidered and refined daily, and after six years, it is as close to perfection as one is going to find in Edrich House.

Stockwell’s local life is concentrated around Clapham Road, South Lambeth Road and Stockwell Road, all within easy walking distance of Edrich House. The area’s long-established Portuguese community gives it a distinctive food culture, with O Cantinho de Portugal and O Barros among the local favourites, while The Canton Arms and The Priory Arms offer two very different takes on the neighbourhood pub. There are plenty of cafés, bakeries and independent shops close by, with Brixton’s restaurants, bars, market and cultural venues only a short walk or bus ride away. Larkhall Park is around ten minutes on foot, offering tennis courts, sports pitches and open lawns, while Clapham Common provides a larger expanse of green space a little further west. Transport is one of Edrich House’s particular strengths. Stockwell Underground station is just a few minutes away, with both the Northern and Victoria lines providing direct routes to the West End, City, Victoria and King’s Cross St Pancras. Vauxhall and Brixton are only one stop away on the Victoria line, while Clapham North and Clapham Common are on the Northern line.