House porn Friday: Grand Designs' Slip House hits the market

It was one of Grand Designs' more controversial builds: a glass box bang in the middle of a Victorian London terrace, designed by the architect Carl Turner.

And now it's on the market, in case you have a spare £1,350,000 to hand.

I don't live far away from Slip House – as it is known due to its construction from "slipped" or cantilevered boxes – and have passed it many times: it really does stick out. But in a bad way?

In its defence, the triple-glazed house, which features PV-T panels to generate heating and hot water, has a rare 5 rating in The Code for Sustainable Homes and an A rated energy performance certificate. It also has a wildflower roof – as well as a private roof-top sunbathing spot.

But where's all the owners' stuff?

Here's a clip from the show, which aired in 2012. It's the reveal section. Good it is to see Kev and his linen jacket weaving his way incongruously through the madness of Brixton Road.



The house sticks out, but it's pretty cool and I'm not one for uniform architecture; an adventurous structure like this, to me, is more interesting than a new house built to look old in an attempt to fit in.

Could you live in it though? It's almost so effective as a blank canvas that it'd be hard to personalise. Would bits of old furniture comfortably replace the sleek, pale pieces in it now? I remember watching Slip House on the show and particularly loving the unpretentious, affordably made kitchen cabinetry (if you look closely you can see it's plywood), but I'd be itching to stain it darker. Would that be sinful? And how about some colourful paint? A few pot plants...?

Maybe the new owners will be able to give it a homelier feel.

Find out more about Slip House at Themodernhouse.net

Post by Kate. Images: Themodernhouse.net