Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
Complete refurbishment of a Victorian house, with a new refined side return infill extension and
bespoke joinery to create a contemporary flow throughout.
The side return infill extension is a collection of very carefully considered details; the glass panels
continue from the clear window area to cover the party wall, and are back sprayed across the wall
thickness. All frames are hidden. The party wall continues from inside to outside and the glass slices
cleanly and framelessly through the wall on the weathering line. The joinery of the kitchen units also
continue from inside to the small urban garden and are seamlessly cut by the glass – allowing inside and
outside to blur, which increases the feeling of space overall.
Inside, the original three separate ground floor rooms are now one large open plan space. The level
change from the front of the house to the back, which was only apparent originally in the stairway, is
now an important definition to the large space. The front, slightly more formal reception room, is thus
separated from the rest of the space by a set of Black Valchromat (a recycled wood product) steps.
Another eco friendly paper-based and very durable material, Richlite is used on the kitchen worktops
and the surfaces of the external/internal black bench, while the vertical surfaces in this area are made
from Valchromat. A new oak parquet floor brings a warm and texture to the space, alongside the
original fireplace in living area painted a bold shade of blue.
To make the most of the available space in the top of the house, a stepped floor was designed between
the master suite in the loft and the kid’s bedroom below. The bed rests on a raised platform made from
black Valchromat and the ceiling bulkhead is concealed within the storage joinery in the small bedroom
below. The use of Black Valchromat in the other main areas gives a contemporary unification to the
whole house right from top, to the new lower ground playroom, and small urban rear garden.