kensal house

Social spaces for connection & creativity

At the edge of the new allotment gardens, this proposed café marks the threshold to Kensal House from busy Ladbroke Grove. Conceived as a welcoming social hub, the building invites both residents and passers-by to connect and share daily life.

The café is part of a pair of small architectural additions to historic Kensal House. Together with the adjacent toy workshop, it carries forward Elizabeth Denby’s original vision: housing not only as shelter, but as a setting for community, creativity, and social exchange.

The design reuses and transforms underutilized spaces, linking them back into the life of the estate both physically and socially. Inspired by Denby’s advocacy for human-centred housing, the project reinforces the importance of companionship, recreation, and access to beauty within the built environment.