Long House, London
A remodelling of a late Victorian house with a reconfigured ground floor and new rooftop extension
Project Type:
A residential refurbishment including a ground floor side extension and loft conversion
Project Status:
Complete
Structural Engineer:
QED Structures
Contractor:
Dulwich Construction
Photography: Penny Wincer
When our clients first approached us with ideas for improving their Victorian semi-detached house, it was their appreciation for the view from their hallway, through the existing kitchen and into the long forty-metre garden that helped inspire the reconfiguration of their home.
The existing house has a traditional arrangement of individual rooms each accessed from the hallway, but for a contemporary family lifestyle to work more effectively an openness was required throughout the ground floor arrangement so that rooms could interconnect or function separately at different times of the day. We introduced the idea of opening up the existing two reception rooms with a sliding wall between, then connecting through to a new side extension that creates a large kitchen and family room overlooking the garden, in doing so creating a second long view through the home and towards the garden.
Existing house
The overall effect creates a light filled home with interconnected spaces that fully utilise the ground floor for family living and a sophisticated new elevation as a backdrop to the long garden.
Historically attention to architectural detail was always afforded to the front of the house, with distinctive painted stone decorated relief elements set around the sash windows. The garden elevation was left much plainer in brick. To provide a new and balanced architectural composition to the rear of the home, we introduced two distinctive white render window elements – one to the ground floor and the second at loft level, both inset with panels of concrete relief tiling as a contemporary interpretation of the Victorian white decorative window surrounds evident to the front. Combined with structural glazing and zinc cladding, they provide a sensitive yet contemporary addition to this house.
Side extension detail
Proposed drawings
Photo: Malcolm Menzies
