When this client, a photographer, was able to secure a piece of property – which is difficult to come by in London’s East End – he had moved a major step closer to fulfilling his childhood dream of building his own home. The new building – the sunken box – inserted in this setting is completely sheathed in black. In its matter-of-factness, the building massing takes its cues from the workshops facing it, while its dimensions show deference to the Victorian, solid-masonry duplexes surrounding it.