HIMACS: Richard Rogers House in Wimbledon

The breath-taking single-storey home, designed in the 1960s by Richard Rogers, has been recently restored by Gumuchdjian Architects and is now a most fitting environment for the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (Harvard GSD) fellowship residents as well as a relaxed, spacious setting for on-going events and seminars. Standout features of the renovated Wimbledon House include two wet rooms within the lodge, fully clad in HIMACS surfaces.

22 Parkside or Rogers House as it’s also known, was a blueprint for industrialised housing and a radical departure from more common building methods of the time. It follows a modular format that would allow for the renewal of technology and developing needs over time made possible by the long-life steel portal frame structure, giving the house its iconic appearance. The property is characterised by the then-radical use of fully glazed facades to create a contemporary composition of courtyards, gardens and linked interior space.

Restoration project

Gumuchdjian Architects, whose founder Philip Gumuchdjian worked alongside the Richard Rogers Partnership for 18 years before setting up his own practice, led the recent renovation. The ethos was to maintain the design’s character rather than the fabric of the building itself.

“Gumuchdjian Architects’ proposition to Harvard GSD was to return the house to its original condition, albeit modified to their specific needs,” explains Philip Gumuchdjian. “As ever, the success of the project was entirely supported by the vision and sensitivity of the client. Our seemingly simple proposition, tempered by the wish to exploit the advantages of modern materials, resulted in the replacement of the entire roof and all of its asbestos-filled external walls, the demolition of recently added buildings, the removal of new internal partitions, the replacement of its servicing system, the refurbishment and redecoration of the joinery and the reconstruction of the garden in its entirety”.

Interior style

The renovated Wimbledon House include two wet rooms within the lodge, fully clad in HIMACS surfaces. Fresh, clean and contemporary, these showering spaces offer practicality combined with a sleek, seamless finish perfect for modern living. Strong, hardwearing and aesthetically appealing, HIMACS is solid throughout. Virtually scratchproof, it is also non-porous, making it easy to clean and resistant to stains, moisture and sunlight – the ultimate choice for the legacy of modern design.

“At 22 Parkside, we required a complete wet room solution for the new en-suite shower rooms in the ‘lodge’ building. The solution had to be of high quality and aesthetically pure, while being equally robust in use to complement the original 1968 design. The result is an apparently seamless custom-made wet room material, lining the shower room walls and floors” -  Michael Ramwell, Project Architect for Gumuchdjian Architects

Perfect for wet rooms and bathrooms

Martin Saxby, Country Manager for LG Hausys in the UK comments: “HIMACS is a solid surface material that can be thermoformed into any shape. It is widely used in wet rooms and bathrooms, but also in kitchens, healthcare, public spaces, wall-cladding and various other bespoke pieces.

“Many natural stone and timber surfaces, when used in the home, need time and care. HIMACS is maintenance-free, apart from normal everyday cleaning, and of course it’s totally non-porous, and seamless so is ultra-hygienic too – with nowhere for germs to lurk.

“LG Hausys’ HIMACS uses a simple heating process to give three-dimensional thermoplastic forming capabilities, allows visually seamless designs, offers a virtually limitless range of colours and so we’re able to offer the longest guarantee for a solid surface material, 15 years if installed by a Quality Club fabricator.”

Chris Cook, Managing Director of Solidity Ltd comments: “The skylights and exposed beams Richard Rogers chose to put over these wet rooms shows the difference and value a brilliant architect can add. In the 15 years we have been using HIMACS to make our unique wet room floor and wall system we have seen a lot of great architecture but these spaces are special. We are delighted to have been chosen to provide part of this fabulous project.”