Client
Private
Year
2021
Services
HomesThe Concept
A monumental, colonnaded extension to the rear of a detached 1912 Edwardian house. Comprising a dining kitchen, pantry and home-working space, the design creates a seamless link between house and garden, indoors and out, old and new. While the main reception rooms and bedrooms have the generous proportions and high ceilings typical of period houses, the former kitchen, in the rear return, was low-ceilinged, cramped, and compromised, accessed only through other rooms. From there, entry to the garden was further hampered through a dated conservatory and several steep steps.
The deceptively simple plan follows a rigorous grid to which the internal layout adheres. A pantry and study area are tucked discretely into one solid-walled corner, so they don’t interrupt the colonnade. Inside, the L-shaped plan generously pushes out into the garden to create space for informal seating, and a sense of sitting within the greenery. Long format bricks with colour-matched mortar give a monolithic appearance to the massive piers – distinct from, yet tonally blended with, the brick of the original house. Interest is added to the small front-facing elevation through subtly stepped brickwork.
A sense of sitting within the greenery of the garden
The house won RSUA Design Award, RSUA Small Project of the Year and a RIBA Regional Award, 2023. It was also one of 20 projects selected for the RIAI Awards 2023 Exhibition.