The owners of this Mortimer Road property came to us to extend and redesign their home internally.

The property is a post war mid terrace house. It was a tired old dark structure with small windows, no insulation, and very segregated spaces.

The entrance and circulation areas suffered from narrow dimensions and no light The kitchen area was particularly small, and there was much need for storage space Two main areas where these types of houses can be improved easily, the Ground floor with the addition of a rear extension and the roof void by extending with a dormer and converting it into residential space.

Our goal was to allow more space at the entrance of the house and rearrange the space to provide a comfortable kitchen space and outdoors/indoors connection to make full use of the rear garden, bring light to as much of the house as possible, thermally upgrade the house and make it more efficient

We redesigned the staircase to introduce a second winder and relocated it a bit further back to allow breathing space at the entrance. This way we managed to include all the plant room and utility room equipment under the staircase and introduced a new guest WC for the GF which was previously missing. A large fire rated internal arched glazed panel connects visually the new corridor with the extension at the back and brings direct views to the garden from the main entrance.

We relocated the kitchen at the front of the house where the living room was previously, with direct access to the new staircase so for the morning breakfast routines everything would be easily accessible. The dining area remained at its original location -now in the middle of the space accounting for the new extension, interconnected with the kitchen area for ease of access and also connected with the main new living area at the new extension space. A double sided biofuel fireplace and two archways keep appropriate levels of connection, privacy and separation between the dining/working and living area.

Large asymmetrical composite timber/aluminium triple glazed doors and windows provide open views towards the garden and large triple glazed skylights in the new asymmetrical extension, allow light to penetrate further into the ground floor space. A custom made built- in bench follows the angles and curves of the overall design of the extension.

Sustainable thermowood timber cladding - custom made L-shape planks- and a green roof complete the exterior of the new extension, along with a hanging pergola that follows the pattern of the cladding and protects from overheating. The whole ground floor layout - bar the main protected circulation space - remains interconnected but not completely open plan - more like a ‘broken plan’ allowing air to flow freely and ventilate the premises from both front and back.

Further adding to the flow of the layout, a continuous seamless BAXAB microcement floor from Topcret bright and reflective amplifying light further into the plan. Large fire rated glazed pocket doors connect the main kitchen area with the protected corridor and main exit

The staircase reaches the first floor wide landing space where the main family bathroom area has been enlarged. The two main rooms have been connected together by opening up a doorframe between them creating a large kids bedroom with associated study and play area (with a custom made joinery unit) which also allows dual aspect ventilation. A small study area completes the floor.

Loft: A new staircase has been installed to reach the loft level, with a strategically placed skylight which allows all the heat to be extracted from the house during the heatwaves, tested in the latest heatwaves in London - by keeping the indoor temperature up to 10C less than exterior temperatures. The staircase has been designed in such a way that light from that skylight reflects on walls making the FF landing and corridor areas brighter. The whole loft space is designed as one big bedroom with free flow to a walk-in wardrobe area on one side and a bed with ensuite on the other side, also allowing dual aspect ventilation The whole house has been upgraded thermally to latest building regulations standards.

BIM and Structure:

We utilised the latest BIM technologies to make sure the whole process was managed properly from the get go. A Laserscan point cloud survey provided the base on which our BIM model was based. The structural engineer utilised the same model and worked on the same software environment to achieve perfect collaboration and millimeter accuracy which was crucial during construction and the fabrication of the multiangled cranked beams and steel connections hidden within the asymmetrical features of the rear extension. The result: A bright and calm space drawing references from mediterranean appeal, japanese flow and interconnection, and scandinavian calmness and simplicity, tailored to the aesthetics and lifestyle requirements of the specific clients