Extension and Alterations, Stoke Newington, London.

This project comprises the extension and remodelling of the kitchen and dining area of an end-of-terrace Victorian house in a Stoke Newington conservation area. At the time of building, the kitchen had quite a different status and function within the home to that which it enjoys now. Architecturally, this was reflected by its location as an adjunct: a functional rear “offshot”, half a storey down and disjointed from the rest of the living accommodation. As is often the case, it also had a poor connection with the garden and made inefficient use of the available site area – most evident in the leftover slither of yard between it and the boundary wall to the south.

The kitchen is now perhaps the centre of the modern home, in terms of activity – be that family interaction or entertaining. By bringing inside the alley-like leftover external space through an infill extension, and rationalising a combined living and dining area from the footprint of the existing offshot and outhouses, the design creates an exciting contemporary interior with a greater connection to the back garden. It maximises space usage on the site - the end of terrace position has enabled a subtle pushing out of the dining area beyond the existing building line, which ekes out a little more floor area and gives a more dynamic feel to the spatial planning.

The extension is characterised by two distinct but complimentary forms, which expresses the interior division of function between kitchen and dining areas. The brick kitchen element features a crafted brick gable, reflecting an internal section generated by transforming the arched head of a window internalised by the extension into an entrance from the main body of the house – creating a vista from the upper ground floor, while keeping the height of the eaves parapet at the party wall low. A full length rooflight maximises the light penetration to the inner spaces. The dining area has a contrasting more intimate pavilion-like outline clad in Corten steel and addresses the garden through its glazed screen. Befitting its garden setting, it also features a wildflower meadow roof and an integral trellis for the training of climbing plants.

Unusually for a domestic extension project, a prefabricated cross laminated timber (CLT) frame has been used for both the extension and the garden office. This was manufactured in a factory and quickly erected on site, with substantial carbon reduction over traditional masonry cavity wall construction. It also allows for bold structural expression - from the flying buttress-like cranked beams to the more subtle cantilevering slab of the dining area.

This scheme was long listed for the 2024 New London Architecture Don’t Move Improve! awards.