THE GLAZED BRICK EXTENSION

An Antwerp inspired wrap-around extension and retrofit to a terraced house in Nunhead

SE15

The Glazed Brick Extension was inspired by a studio field trip to Antwerp in Belgium. Here, we fell in love with a new passive housing development constructed in a geometric array of stacked white glazed bricks with green mortar. A new project had landed on our desks, and our minimalist loving clients Laura and Liam were game to see if we could bring a little bit of Antwerp to their Nunhead family home.

Our brief for the project included the reconfiguration and extension of the first-floor outrigger at the back of the house, along with an environmentally conscious approach to the work. The outrigger was extended using timber framed construction, with everything wrapped in external insulation, rendered. This created a new (and warm) bedroom and family bathroom.

The exterior of the ground floor extension incorporates a deep-set reveal, to assist with solar shading and accentuate the sense of mass built up with the geometrically ordered stacked brickwork. The green colour of the mortar is replicated in the colour of the window frames and copings.

The environmentally conscious approach also included a first for the studio, with the use of glulam timber beams holding up the first floor of the house instead of the usual steelwork. These glulam beams were big, but our design approach enabled them to be hidden out of sight to retain the clean interior aesthetic. A single circular terracotta painted steel column helps spread the loads.

The dining zone is located closest to the garden, sat beneath the James Turrell inspired circular rooflight, also referencing the front door glazing. The circular geometry becomes a repeating motif through the project, from the rooflight to the column, the kitchen door handles, light fittings, even the subtle curved corner to the extension to one side of the sliding doors to the garden.

The interior palette is simple, with a minimal combination of porcelain, ash and (off) white punctuated with splashes of green and terracotta.

The spatial arrangement of the house was tweaked at ground floor, to provide a new curved utility and boot room in the centre of the plan, in between the front living room and open plan kitchen and dining space at the back. The new utility construction incorporates an oversized recessed door into the living room. The curved walls lead you into the kitchen space, entering below exposed ash rafters supporting an openable glass roof.