The simple form of this light-filled contemporary extension is animated by a large shallow-pitched central rooflight, twisted due-south to maximise winter solar penetration and create a focal point for family life.
The key ambition of the project was to create a single flexible large-scaled contemporary living space, and connect this new heart of the home imaginatively to the client's 54m long rear garden. The solution was to conceive the extension as the first of a number of garden pavilions, each with complimentary yet distinct uses and materials.
A number of design moves reinforce this approach. The blunt-cut pyramidal roof form emphasises the independent nature of the room from the main body of the house, and its desire to connect with the garden. Rich red-gum timber panels line three sides of the interior, strengthening the special character of the extension and further defining the space, whilst also concealing steelwork nibs, services, storage and doors back into the main house and utility room. And the whole space is animated by a large shallow-pitched central rooflight, twisted due-south to maximise winter solar penetration, and create a focal point for family life to unfold.
Every detail has been considered to ensure the extension responds to the way the young family experience and use the building. With low-level drawers for children's toys, a gold-brass lined secret cocktail cupboard for the grown-ups and lots of practical elements integrated into the linings, such as two additional worktop spaces, a naturally-ventilated larder and a pull-out office come gadget charging point.
Full-width slimline sliding doors allow the outside to flow in and encourage the family to wander out into their own strip of London.
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