Watershed House takes its lead from the Georgian terrace as an efficient, high density, urban model, which retains elegance, quality of space and flexibility in use. But unlike its Georgian forebear, this home also mitigates against climate change, and takes on board concerns about building in areas of flood risk.

The house is masterplanned in a green grid to manage water flow communally. There would be gabion formed bunds and ha-has with homes lifted above street level and accessed via a low gradient sloped entry. Surrounding ground would have permeable surfaces to allow rainwater to soak away.

The roof of the house is effectively a large rainwater harvester with an underground tank for rainwater storage. Grey water is cleaned and recycled in a reed bed. Roof-mounted solar thermal panels supply domestic hot water, while geo-thermal piling provides the source for underfloor heating. The house itself is constructed of timber frame with high levels of insulation.

The house has been designed from the inside out, and is expanded through increased head heights, balcony projections, borrowed views, porches and deep thresholds, as well as through use of stair, wall and floor voids. Living areas can be used as distinct individual rooms or provide a flow of openable spaces, depending on residents’ needs.

The house has a large atrium at its heart to bring light and space into what is traditionally the darkest part of a terraced home. The vertical atrium is an expanded hall, reception or dining room, overlooked by a series of landings. By contrast the living room is a more sedate horizontal space with a wide aspect over the gardens, and louvred shutters that can be raised to give access to a terrace. When the shutters are closed, the living room becomes a home cinema.

The design aims to provide flexibility, versatility, wow factor and a sense of space all within a dense footprint. The downstairs WC can be converted to a shower room, a put-away daybed draws out from beneath the dining room floor and a home office trolley extends from under the stair into the living room. The dining room floor is made from a set of steel storage boxes, with their lids forming the timber flooring. Staircase walls are constructed as shelves. Cupboards and nooks are sculpted from the thick party walls. No space is wasted.

The traditional garden is just one of several amenity spaces. There is also a covered terrace at ground floor, a first floor terrace with barbecue, balconies and a green roofed shed or studio.

The house can be extended without increasing the plot, either by enclosing the upper terrace at roof level or by spanning the upper level of the atrium.

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