Etta House began with a family who wanted to change how their home felt and was lived in - by adding more space, more light and more clarity. The result is a ground floor side and rear extension that transforms a tired Victorian property in Balham that was fragmented, dark and disconnected from the garden, into a generous, contemporary living environment that is open, coherent and filled with natural light - without losing sight of the character of the original building. 

Rather than imposing an ideology on the site, Stylus Architects allowed the site to generate the architecture. A wedge-shaped geometry defines the plot, and every wall, every junction and every view originates from those existing geometries. The rear elevation is defined by two angled brick blades that converge one-third of the way across the elevation, a composition informed by the golden ratio. They appear to meet but subtly slide past one another, creating depth, shadow and balance through a very restrained yet visually striking architecture. The most striking element being that no wall meets another at 90 degrees.

The brick façade demanded an unusually high level of precision. Because every angle is unique, there was not a single standard corner throughout the extension. Bespoke bricks were developed to maintain crisp edges and clean uninterrupted jointing throughout. What appears to be a very simple building actually required an extraordinary amount of coordination and craftsmanship.

The material palette is deliberately restrained, allowing light, shadow and geometry to become the defining architectural elements. The soft chalk-toned brick wraps continuously from outside to inside, becoming structure, enclosure and interior finish simultaneously. Timber flooring runs along the ground floor, reinforcing flow and coherence. The kitchen introduces warmth through ribbed wood joinery paired with deep green elements that ground the space.

Long, uninterrupted sightlines connect the front of the house to the garden beyond. Subtle shifts in angle animate movement without ever feeling disorientating, and the house gradually unfolds rather than revealing everything at once. A large glazed roof and frameless rooflights draw daylight deep into the plan, while a full-height glass pivot door connects the interior to the garden with ease.

"Etta House isn't a project about unusual geometry," says Matthew Withers, Director of Stylus Architects. "Geometry was simply the tool. By listening carefully to the site, every design decision, from the overall plan to the smallest brick detail, became part of one coherent architectural idea. The design is sophisticated. But the experience is simple."