SKEW HOUSE

An angular rear extension to a house in Croydon

CR1

We were appointed by our clients Elaine and Russel to re-work their home in Croydon. Coming from a design background, they asked us to deliver their vision of a unique, design-led proposal. The Victorian house does not have a right angle in sight, and the extension is designed to follow the same skewed geometry.

An offset pitched roof creates a generous ceiling height inside with exposed, triangulated rafters. The dining space is denoted by a triangular bay window while the living area is linked to the garden with an oversized pivot door. The zinc roof folds over all of the elements to create a unified but angular form.

EXISTING GROUND FLOOR PLAN

PROPOSED GROUND FLOOR PLAN

The old kitchen was tucked away in the middle of the house with only a small window to the alleyway. This becomes a generous utility room and WC, placing all of the functional rooms in the darkest part of the house. A small office has a slit window overlooking the side patio. The extension creates an open plan kitchen, dining, living space, all of which are given well defined zones. A bench is wrapped around the dining table which also forms a corner window seat. The living space is defined by the huge pivot door, which gives unobstructed views into the garden when closed.

The materials for the extension are in strong contrast to the existing brick building, but complementary. The dark zinc roof mirrors the dark clay tiles on the existing house and allows for very crisp edges to the roof. Bespoke larch cladding follows the angles of the roof.

TESTIMONIAL

“We worked with YARD architects on our project to extend and refurbish our house, and we would highly recommend them. Words can not recommend them highly enough.” Russel C