Valhalla is a minimal residence located in London, England, designed by Denizen Works. Denizen Works were commissioned to transform the front elevation of a tired house in Highgate to complete a triptych of varied architectural approaches. Adjacent to our clients’ property there are two widely acclaimed pieces of contemporary residential design. Our clients had grown weary of comparison to their neighbors and asked Denizen Works to give new life to their street elevation converting it from a tired piece of mid-twentieth century modernism to a contextual and poetic piece of architecture. Viewed from up or down the hill, the new elevation appears closed, but on moving past the house, a ghost of the original house is visible. The project references the nearby Highgate cemetery and plays on the reflective material qualities of the immediate neighbor. The charred larch creates a contrast between the two properties, one reflecting the living trees opposite and ours clad in black, traumatized wood.