SUBURBAN HOUSE

The contemporary reimagining of a 1920’s detached family home in Wimbledon, resulting in a Suburban House for the 2020’s.

SW20

Suburban House began when our clients approached us to help transform their tired, damp and cold 1920's house into a stylish modern home to enjoy family life. The plot had great potential, and we obtained planning consent to almost double the size of the existing house with side, rear and rooftop extensions.

The house was broadly reconstructed, but we salvaged the core of it, including the existing staircase, along with the front and one side. The entire house was wrapped in a warm external insulated render, and the roof reconstructed and finished with natural clay tiles in keeping with the existing character. The house displays a careful balance of modern and traditional throughout, and despite a gap of over a century separating the stylistic influences, they work together harmoniously to create a Suburban House for the 2020's.

A modern rear extension across the full width of the house is constructed using pale handmade Italian bricks with a Roman format and off-white slurry finish. Expressive and slender brick piers and stack bonded lintel details punctuate the elevation to add depth and frame the interior spaces beyond. A long precast concrete linear pediment detail sits on top of the brickwork, to help anchor the massing and provide clarity in the separation of the contemporary ground floor treatment alongside the traditional detailing above. The creamy tones of the rear extension set the tone for the interior scheme through the rest of the home.

The project, as ever, was a close collaboration between us and our clients, one of whom is an interior designer and the other an art dealer. The design phases of the project were a delight, with features like the full width rooflight over the dining table starting life in the client brief and developing to become a key aspect in providing soft northern light deep into the plan. Final flourishes such as the sculptural stone island, sourced by the clients, sit perfectly alongside the architectural identity of the ground floor space.

The kitchen / dining / living space at the back of the house is a near perfect display of a minimal broken plan arrangement. The kitchen and dining space share the larger volume, whilst the living space nestles behind an oversize fireplace and tv wall, with full height bespoke oak joinery softening the space.

The entryway into the rear living spaces is via dramatic double oak doors, folding back to be concealed within a chamfered joinery volume that acts as the delineator between the softer more traditional detailing of the house beyond and the minimal modern lines of the extension space. Views from the hallway into this space lead the eye to the generous garden, landscaped to be part of the overall design. Lead clad planters mirror the lead cladding of the dormer roof extension, with clay pavers referencing the Italian brickwork

The remainder of the ground floor is vast and overtly useful. An elegant blue front room features a ceiling fresco commissioned by the clients, offering a distinct living space away from the open spaces at the rear of the house. It also benefits from southern light filtered through the carefully retained magnolia tree.

Elsewhere on the ground floor a gym, laundry room, boot room, cloakroom and downstairs loo are located off a large entrance hall, which retains the character of the original 1920's house. Internal door designs, replacement windows and staircase detailing all ensure this character is apparent when you first arrive.

On the first floor, the space was extended and reconfigure to create a principal bedroom suite with an en-suite and a dressing room of dreams, situated in the front room with its beautiful bay window opening to the magnolia tree. Bespoke joinery nestles in below a new cornice, with a floating drawer island in the centre of the space.

The en-suite bathroom combines glazed handmade tiles with large format porcelain to continue the theme of a calm, modern, yet soft and textured interior aesthetic. A double vanity unit and steam room sit within the sort of spacious arrangement which makes it easy for more than one person to use the bathroom at a time. A built in bench detail sits alongside generous storage cupboards, providing an all-too-rare moment of comfort within bathroom spaces

The new first floor rear extension was designed with a vast and spacious vaulted ceiling. What could have been a simple bedroom became far more, with a mezzanine space sitting atop a dramatic piece of coral coloured joinery. This is not a normal children's bedroom, and is an example of the adventurousness and priority of high quality space that permeates the project.

The bedroom opens into a Jack and Jill bathroom, accessible from the room and the hallway. The client sourced copper rolltop bath provides a dramatic centrepiece, and above all a moment of joy (which is always encouraged).

At loft level, a new lead-clad dormer sits above the new staircase. The dormer itself follows the sculptural cues of the ground floor extension, with slender fins and pediment detailing in conversation with the detailing below. Two guest bedrooms and a shower room can be found up here, with a generous upholstered bench in the landing space providing more storage and a quiet and informal breakout space to sit, read, or have a chat on the phone.

The collaborative nature of the work on Suburban House has resulted in a beautiful and modern home that explicitly embodies our clients style and personality. Here is the joy in creating unique homes with and for unique people. As well as being simply the reimagining of a 1920's house to create a Suburban House fit for the 2020's, it is far more importantly, our clients Bradley and Caitlin's house.

ORIGINAL GROUND FLOOR PLAN

COMPLETED GROUND FLOOR PLAN

ISOMETRIC VIEW

Photographs by Ellen Hancock