The main focus of this project was the Client's requirement for a space in which to entertain their extended families.

In addition to refurbishing most of the four storey house, Mustard Architects proposed extensions at ground floor to the rear and to the side to open up the previously cramped, cold and isolated kitchen and dining room to draw light into the plan and create one large open plan space. They also proposed a rear terrace which is used as a continuation of this space as an 'inside/outside' area, a transition between the inside and the garden beyond.

Internally, there is a nod to the existing building with the retention of the original brick arch over the family room window as a trace of the old structure. A new concrete step marks the threshold between the old and the new, neatly framing the view down to the dining table and up to the sky above.

From here, staggered oak steps descend to create informal library seating with built in book shelving to one side. The steps are also used as an impromptu stage for speeches at celebrations.

Running from these steps almost the full length of the extension, is a large rooflight which floods the kitchen and dining space with light, it also ensures that daylight is drawn into the depth of the plan. This strip of light then leads the eye out to the external living and dining areas.

Mustard have used a monochromatic palette of materials with touches of oak throughout to link the spaces and have added interest by using varying textures. The oak flooring of the existing house becomes a warm toned concrete floor in the new kitchen and dining area which then continues into the outside space, linking them into one large entertaining space.

Further texture is added through the use of articulated bricks which clad the rear wall of the house and enclose the terrace area, these together with the oak solar shading create strong shadows which change with the movement of the sun.