One of the most fascinating figures of 20th-century architecture, Walter Segal was born in Berlin but spent a formative part of his childhood in Ascona, Switzerland. His father was an artist, and he grew up among the creatives and intellectuals who gathered on the banks of Lake Maggiore, a refuge from the First World War.

Segal trained in Berlin, a city that was at the forefront of Modernism, and moved to London in 1936. It wasn’t until the 1960s, however, that he began to gain recognition for his ideas and methods. Today, his reputation continues to rise – not least because of his environmentally friendly approach to building.

In 1963 Segal married his second wife, Moran Scott. With six children between them, they decided to demolish Scott's Victorian house on North Hill in Highgate and replace it with a modern dwelling for the family to live in. The house is typical of his work in many ways, with its simple plan, minimal detailing and respect for the surrounding landscape. It also shows the architect’s uncanny ability to create an atmosphere that is both cosseting and wonderfully uplifting.

Simplicity of construction was important: only six trades were used, and wet trades were kept to a minimum. The house is a masonry cross-wall structure with light longitudinal elevations in glass and brick. The floors and roof are joisted timber. Rolled-steel sections form lintels, to avoid the use of concrete. The flat roof, with its prominent overhangs, is a recurrent theme of Segal’s buildings.

So as to maximise the useable space, optimum circulation was arithmetically determined at 12%. Originally there were six small bedrooms, but it was intended to be adaptable. Segal worked from home, and his studio on the ground floor was designed with separate access from the entrance courtyard. The internal materials are all fair-faced, and there is an almost total avoidance of architraves and trims. Pale sand-lime brickwork is sanded internally to give a smoother finish, and non-structural partitions are finished with vertical pine boarding.

In her book ‘Architects’ London Houses’ (1992), Miranda Newton wrote:

“Segal’s house shows his particular interest in timber detailing. No traditional methods, such as dowels, mortices or tenons, are used, only straight glued or bolted joints. This individualistic approach is immediately noticeable. The window detail, two sheets of plate glass supported in parallel L-angles bolted through to the linings, is simple and successful… Internally, the standard of joinery is noticeably superior.

“The stair is a strong, characteristic image for the house… Vertical timbers hang from the upper level with bolted treads. Despite the open risers, a sense of security is created by the forest of slender vertical timbers which enclose the stair. Segal preferred an uncluttered environment. His joy was in the materials and the quality of the detailing, particularly in the carpentry…