The project brief was to assist our clients with the design of a side and rear ground floor extension, in order to allow the property to offer much needed family space and make this North London property a long term home.
The client was keen to have a contemporary, yet sensitive extension that maximised site conditions and addressed boundary height restrictions in a clever way. This brought about the idea of an asymmetric pitched roof pierced with openable skylights to allow for natural light and ventilation.
The homeowner’s brief brief included achieving an open plan kitchen/dining area with play space and ample amounts of storage.In order to maximise internal headroom, and to incorporate the difference in level between gardens, as the road is on an incline, we proposed to intervene by adding a side and rear extension with an asymmetric pitch and skylights to both sides, that would allow for both early morning and evening light to the new living/kitchen/dining space. We chose to clad the extension in a dark charred timber, in order to ensure longevity and minimal maintenance, and to avoid any issues around discolouration can occur when using a pale timber. We also wanted to acknowledge the contemporary nature of this addition to the house by using a material distinctly different from those of the host building.
Why the two tones of paint colour? At Mitchell + Corti we play a lot with paint colour combinations to allow for our projects to feel carefully designed, without the unaffordable price tag. We wanted to keep the room feeling bright yet practical, however we also wanted to add some character and continuity throughout the room and a touch of signature colour and vibrancy to the design. The colour also unifies the room and levels by making the space read as one despite the numerous different uses found in the open plan arrangement.
The extension added space both to the side and the rear of the property. It enabled an open plan feel and connection to the more formal living rooms at the front of the house and for clever built in storage to enable the home to not feel cluttered with toys/kitchen appliances/kids scooters/coats/shoes etc. The new space now hosts a utility room, a full height coat cupboard, a kitchen with a generous island, full height pantry cupboards on one side with a sideboard, a dining area, a window seat and an informal lunge/TV area with sofa.
Team:
Architect: Mitchell + Corti Architects
Structural Engineer: Mitchinson Macken
Photographer: Luke Weller
