Trying to find Aperture House on a residential street in north-west London, I walk past the address several times. The door number matches the one I have been given, but the kerb appeal is… not what I am expecting from the big-budget, architect-led renovation I have been sent images of. Nonetheless, not discovering a parallel house with the same door number, I try my luck and ring the bell.
“When people come over for the first time they often ask if we’re planning to leave the front like this to deter burglars,” laughs Tom Boland, as he opens the undeniably decrepit front door onto a scene far more in line with what I was expecting. “It’s more that we’re lazy, and also we want to take the whole thing back to brick and so, again, you’ve got to find £20,000 and it is just not top of our mission.”
