St. Barnabas is the second project in a series of architectural
commissions offered to Spaced Out by the same family. During the
briefing phase it became clear that we were to focus our energy on
resolving how the house and garden could be best joined. A key
statement made by our client was that the design must cater for
'Visitors of all shapes, sizes, ages and stages of development'.
Adding, 'We want to make them feel welcome into a warm, generous,
creative space'. The existing house is an Edwardian
semi-detached villa which had an isolated back living room that totally
underplayed the potential of its relationship to the long west facing
walled garden. Spaced Out reacted to this brief by creating a
lightweight garden room, opening up the back of the house. With a
relatively small scale extension we fulfilled the idea that we should
design a space that is manageable, with everything within easy reach; a
space that never feels empty. The design was driven by our desire to
extend the property in a sensitive manner with seamless detailing. The
result is an object that gently slides in under the building, retaining
the upper level part of the original full length bay window.