Extensions might spring from a need for extra space but all have the potential to transform the whole house. Our Reinventing the Home webinar is packed with inspiring and creative responses that go far beyond the standard
A well-designed house extension can, with just a few key moves, unlock new possibilities for how clients want to live in their homes. So said RIBA Journal contributing editor Chris Foges introducing the Reinventing the Home webinar in partnership with Maxlight.
Often such projects are precipitated by change. At Colonnade, a south London house refurbishment and extension by Will Gamble Architects, the clients sought a better home for their own growing family and visitors.
Associate Miles Kelsey described how the project retained the essence of the Edwardian home by reinstating period features in more formal spaces at the front, but added variety by opening it up at the rear. Its kitchen extension is defined by fins onto the garden, in ‘a modern interpretation of a colonnade’.
This mediates between inside and out, enabling views out but with some separation rather than a vast expanse of glazing. Slatted partitions inside give some separation between spaces while retaining a visual connection. A roof extension creates a new master suite with inbuilt study space. Roof and floor insulation was increased and oversized radiators enable future use of heat pumps.
The practice’s Palm Springs project is an extension and reconfiguration of a Grade-II-listed home in north London, inspired by the Desert Modernism of California. As per Colonnade, the biggest changes were at the rear, where an open-plan extension on the lower-ground floor was designed for flexible working, relaxing and entertaining uses with full-height glazing. With capacity to host groups of up to 25 people, sliding pocket doors enable sub-division if required. The architect also upgraded the energy efficiency of the building fabric, and introduced eight solar panels. A cork-clad garden studio, ‘The Hide’, is discreet, with a monopitch roof topped with sedum.
Maxlight’s Tony Culmer looked back on the changing use of light in kitchens over 50 years, which has led to larger areas of glazing and great improvements in the energy efficiency of glass.
As a designer and manufacturer of architectural glazing, Maxlight has often worked with Amrita Mahindroo of DROO Architects, who presented several newbuild and extension projects. These include The Crescent House, a rear kitchen extension of a Victorian house for a chef on the site of an existing shed. A sweeping glazed curve in the garden maximises natural light and provides an airy kitchen studio where the chef can work and film her YouTube show.
At Platform House, rather than taking an open-plan approach, DROO created a carpet of levels with a stepped ground and ceiling plane. Combined with bespoke joinery, it ‘packs lots of little moments inside the typical Victorian terrace space,’ said Mahindroo, who also discussed extensions’ ability to create longer prospects through a property.
Other residential projects include Castle Lane in Victoria, where DROO used curved bow windows to extend the living space and create cross-views down the street. In this way, the glass is used ‘to cheat the street’, according to Mahindroo.
Robert Houmøller of Merrett Houmøller Architects presented Taper House, an extension that boldly removed part of the first floor to create an airy kitchen-diner. The Victorian townhouse was previously full of boxy spaces, said Houmøller, with a poor relationship to the outside. The client wanted ‘warmth and humanity’ with high ceilings and a multi-faceted central space. Houmøller credits the client with pushing the practice to be ambitious and ‘make it bigger, better and more exciting'.
The result created a double-height space by losing a bedroom and adding a side return and rear extension, both with tapering roof forms to minimise the impact on neighbouring properties. A Scarpa-inspired elevated pond stretches alongside the new rear dining area while the extension terminates in a covered ‘coffee in the rain’ porch. A bedroom and a mezzanine overlooking the kitchen sit on the first floor, with more accommodation on the second floor and in a converted loft.
Merrett Houmøller worked with All & Nxthing on the interior, which combines clay plaster and oak structure with new brick flooring and exposed brickwork that tells the story of the original house. The result, he suggested, is ‘dynamic without being too busy’.
Chris Foges described it as bringing a bit of Marrakech to north London, and cited a comment from a webinar viewer about the value of all presented projects in showing how much more can be gained than the ubiquitous 3m box at the back.
While the featured projects eloquently demonstrate how houses can be successfully reimagined for modern-day use, a good client as well as a good architect is invaluable, as Miles Kelsey earlier pointed out in relation to Colonnade: ‘It does require an awful lot of energy and resilience…and that’s something we’re really grateful for’.
Reinventing the Home was produced by RIBAJ in partnership with Maxlight
Presenters
Erin Edmondson architect, and Miles Kelsey, associate, Will Gamble Architects
Robert Houmøller co-founder, Merrett Houmøller Architects
Amrita Mahindroo director, DROO Architects
Tony Culmer managing director and owner, Maxlight
Chris Foges contributing editor, RIBA Journal (chair)