Private Client

DEDRAFT were approached to increase the footprint of this unique end-of-terrace property in London, E17.  The existing property sits within an end plot, featuring a substantial rear garden which expands broader than the width of the house itself. The internal configuration of the 1920’s Warner property features a central stair which splits the footprint and as a result had a negative impact on the flow and use of the internal space.

The clients brief set out a clear need for additional space to make increased and improved space for a growing family of five. The spaces could be open but must be conceived to enable future flexibility to allow the house to adapt to use as time passed. There was a clear need to introduce a more readily accessible connection between living space and the rear garden without the house appearing as a run-off-the-mill rear addition.

Given the expansive garden and its offset setting, we proposed a ‘pavilion’ stretching setting out at 45 degrees to the existing house and emanating some 15m along the boundary with the adjacent terrace. This new form aimed to wrap the garden in the feeling of a three-sided courtyard bringing in much-needed light as well as a panoramic aspect to the garden, rather than small, restrictive points of access. The aesthetic was to pick up on the forms and aesthetic of ‘Geoffrey Bawa’ and Sri Lankan and Indian architecture offering airy, open and natural internal spaces.

To introduce a subtle mix of material and allow it to be expressed internally and externally we are forming an exposed Douglas Fir roof structure that then returns vertically along the expanse of the side elevation, forming a rhymic elevation combining large fixed Douglas Fir /Accoya panes and opening doors. Brickwork bookends, washed in Kalei (slurry) to reduce their definition, softening their appearance will sit on a low-level, shuttered cast-insitu concrete plinth, Hovering above a continuous projecting concrete ring-beam offers protection from the elements whilst accentuating the horizontality of the deep extension in unison with the plinth below.

To the first floor a single, steeply sloped rear addition is clad in stained Thermopine forming a much-needed additional bathroom. Again windows to the first floor are designed as deep, heavily framed openings allowing a striking contrast to the London stock brickwork, playing with shadows and reflections of the sky throughout the day.

To ensure this would be considered favourably by the local planners we sought pre-application advice and demonstrated both the visual and functional logic to underpin our thinking. Proposed materials were shown to the planners to reinforce the considered palette

Project services being provided –

Feasibility Study

Outline Design

Pre-Application Advice

Obtain Planning Consent

Obtain Building Control Approval

Detail Design

Manage Tender Process

Construction Drawings

Site Attendance during Construction

As-Built Drawings

Completion. 2021
Images. DEDRAFT