The ground and upper ground floor of this Victorian house in Islington is completely reworked to provide a generous kitchen and living space on the lower ground floor, naturally lit by a saw-tooth roof and connected to the traditional front room with a sculptural stair and void.
Project
- Use: House
- Location: London Borough of Islington
- Status: Completed
- Date: 2022
- Press: Building Design 21 June 2022
Team:
- Client: Private
- Quantity Surveyor: Geoff Beardsley and Partners
- Structural Engineer: Momentum
- Services Engineer: Enhabit
- Party Walls: Pearce and Pearce
- Contractor: P and D Building Services Ltd
- Photography © Ioana Marinescu
“vPPR have produced a mature piece of work here, out of what is now their established architectural practice, whose work type and scale is no longer primarily domestic. For me it demonstrates what architecture should be primarily for, to provide a service to fully meet a client’s needs, whilst using design to absolutely expand that project’s potential.”
Matthew Lloyd, Building Design
PROCESS
The upper and lower ground floors of this Victorian terraced house are transformed by the introduction of a sculptural stair that connects the formal drawing room above with the new kitchen and sitting-room below.
A series of saw-tooth rooflights and a large crittal window bring daylight into the deep plan of the extension. The Saxon-bond handmade white brick rear façade creates a light backdrop that accentuates the mature garden and silver birch trees. An exposed concrete lintel frames the window.
The three angled skylights and exposed flanges of the supporting beams separate the extension into three distinct zones within one cohesive space: dining, kitchen and living.
The kitchen design was developed to showcase the client’s existing crockery and art collections, using materials that are neutral but also warm and natural such as recycled lab tops, handmade glazed tiles and oak floor.
A small terrace located above the new extension provides a space to view the gardens next to the office on the upper ground floor.
Lower Ground and Ground Floor Plans
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Rear Elevation
2/4
Section AA
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Section BB
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