The house is situated at the end of a terrace of 1970s houses which were built on the site of a former orchard. The house had a layout which is typical to mid-century townhouses with the living spaces located on the first floor, with no direct link to the garden and 3 small bedrooms on the ground and second floors.

The clients, a growing young family, approached Nimtim Architects with a brief to transform their home providing a new family space on the ground floor with access and views to the garden and a large main bedroom suite on the first floor.

Initially, there was a lack of support for changes from the local authority, so Nimtim came up with a solution that could be achieved through permitted development. They proposed an extension to the rear and side of the ground floor to provide adequate space for the living, dining and kitchen areas, and a master bedroom suite on the first floor with it's own en-suite bathroom.

The exterior of the extensions were required to be built with the same materials and window types as the existing house. Nimtim saw this as an opportunity rather than a restriction and laid the yellow bricks (to match the existing house) at ground and ceiling height on edge to differentiate the new part of the building from the existing and the openings on the ground level referenced the existing house but were placed with a deliberate rhythm on the rear elevation to frame views out to the garden. On first floor the new bedroom is given a wide generous window to bring the garden view and canopy into the space.

The client wanted the new family space to be open, flexible and robust. Nimtim proposed open timber partitions which loosely define the space into different areas. These could be filled in to create more solid separation, increasing the privacy, or taken down to create a more open space. The timber framework and ply cladding form semi-open screens which provide a visually and acoustically warm environment. They have apertures cut into them for views through and in some cases the framework is used as shelves for the family's special items.

There are exposed timber beams in the new extension ceilings to the rear and side. These beams sail under the new rooflight over the dining area, and they add to the definition of the different areas. They create a cosiness in the new living area where the timber seems to wrap around the space.

The centrepiece of the kitchen is an island which is clad with white tiles, these are curved at the edges of the worktop and continue to form the kitchen sink. This adds to the robustness of the design.

Contrasting with the rectilinear grid of the timber structure, the floor is laid with grey and blue linoleum in a triangular pattern which will eventually inform the landscaping in the garden, the house is on a triangular plot with a large but awkwardly shaped garden, the proposal will address these geometries and resolve them.

The articulation of spaces has come into it's own during lockdown allowing different activities to occur throughout the house at the same time.