Quatrefoil House sees the refurbishment and extension of an early Gothic Revival home in the North Oxford Victorian Suburb Conservation Area. The brief sought to remodel the 1870s building to create a contextual, contemporary 5-bedroom home with a lower-level entertaining space and secluded garden.
Since the 1970s, the building, which is under 450sqm, has been a student residence. With the building in poor condition, Hyde + Hyde prioritised the restoration of the retainable historic fabric. This retrofit strategy has also enabled a significant sustainability upgrade, transforming it into a 21st-century family home.
Hyde + Hyde’s thoughtful approach examined the three volumes, across which the floorplan is split, and introduced a fourth volume – ‘completing the square’ with a rear extension for the kitchen-diner. This pushes out of the existing envelope and is supported by a concrete column, which borrows its form from an inverted Gothic window. Playing with the relationship between solid and void, the otherwise glazed extension turns its back to the street with a brick façade, to provide privacy and match the home’s original brickwork.
The design’s celebration of ornament complements the refined structure. Inspired by the existing property’s architectural language and Oxford’s townscape, quatrefoil tectonic tiles in bronze and steel feature externally, resulting in a striking façade motif.
Inside, the central staircase is just one example of the project’s bespoke joinery. Here, surrounding voids introduce light deep into the plan, creating a triple-height, open-plan ground floor. These voids separate the living room and kitchen, but transparent walls connect them visually, creating a family hub at the home’s heart.
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