YARD architects has added a contemporary oak lined side-return extension to a Victorian terraced house in North Kensington. Alongside the new addition, the design team has also refurbished the rest of the home for a couple and their teenage son.
The small extension completely changes the dynamic and use of the ground floor. The existing cellular plan no longer worked for the clients, with an underused dining room behind the living room, and an isolated kitchen and breakfast space.
The extension provides a larger and more sociable kitchen and dining space across the full width of the house, now connected directly to the larger living area. Bifold doors and a continuous grey limestone floor extend the internal space out into the small garden.
The relationship between the garden and the living space at the front was also important, with a desire for a view all the way through the ground floor plan. The glass extension sits lightly within this space, purposefully framing the view through a pair of white oiled oak linings at both thresholds where the extension meets the house and garden. These linings are functional as well as aesthetic devices, creating a deep window seat and storage to the garden end, and housing steps to the living room at the other.
Both the structural glass roof and fixed window in the extension consist of single frameless elements to create a minimal and contemporary aesthetic in stark contrast to the timber framed sash windows and Victorian detailing throughout the rest of the house.
all images © Richard Chivers