The ‘Invisible House’ —Transformed From Stark to Warm

We don’t tend to think of brand-new residential builds as iconic architecture. The phrase usually conjures mid-century greats such as Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater or the glass-and-steel modernist purity of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion.

But when Steve Smith completed the Invisible House — a mirrored box on stilts in Warwickshire that reflects the surrounding silver birch trees so precisely it appears to vanish into the landscape — in 2018, the modern home immediately made headlines and has since been shortlisted for a RIBA award and quickly became a modern phenomenon.

The house hit the news again when it was sold in 2022, and now we’re unveiling its refurbishment by studio Atelier Savoir Faire — a transformation that shifted the interior from bright and cold to warm, tactile and deeply calming.

“The interior was very jarring,” says Dhilnawaaz Khan Trotman, studio co-founder. “Other than the black foyer, it felt like a spaceship — all stark white surfaces, not really conducive to living in.” (It’s worth seeking out the “before” images online to reveal just how dramatic the change has been.) “We wanted to introduce natural colors and materials, plus earthy tones and curves, to make the home feel like a warm hug.”

All on one level, the Invisible House is unlike any home we’ve featured before. Clad entirely in mirrored panels, its central entrance hall branches into two wings, now housing multiple living areas, bedrooms and even a dedicated video games room.

“There’s no phone reception here and the owner really values disconnecting from the outside world,” says Dhilnawaaz. “So we leaned into that. The scheme is rooted in neuroaesthetics, using materials and forms that help the brain relax and the body slow down.”

The design language is deceptively restrained: a tight palette of microcement, limewash, stainless steel, and soft curves, all gently illuminated by warm LED strip lighting concealed in ceiling tracks and behind artworks. In practice, however, the execution was anything but simple. The house’s seamless architectural shell meant there was no opportunity to layer on paneling or introduce new flooring — the edges of each room are entirely continuous.

Nowhere was this challenge more keenly felt than in the entrance hall. “It’s very long and beneath the window there’s a dark pond that reflects sunlight onto the ceiling like moving water,” says Annahita Samiri, Dhilnawaaz’s co-founder. “We wanted to soften that space.”

Her solution was a hand-drawn, undulating wall installation made up of 56 individual panels, wrapped in oxidized bronze vinyl, with hidden storage for coats and shoes. “It was an expensive eccentricity,” she admits, “but it creates a sense of flow that guides you through the house.”

The installation epitomizes what Dhilnawaaz and Annahita have successfully achieved here, which is a mellowing of the hard edges, allowing the home to exhale. They’ve taken a shrine to ultra-modernity and made it feel both right for now and, even more importantly, liveable.