White on White | Gianni Botsford Architects

The client required a discreet, ‘jewel like’ study extending from the house into the garden fronting the Regent’s Canal. For the sake of privacy, the study was to be invisible from the other side of the canal. Our aim, therefore, was to be “dematerialise” the room within the fabric of the existing white stucco garden elevation of the house, while creating a strong and distinctive interior. When viewed from a distance, the new extension is indeed invisible. This was achieved by a very particular use of materials: unframed, ultra-clear low-iron glass, a white frit camouflaging the glass - with a bespoke pattern related to the garden, views from study and to the water - and white structural silicone instead of the usual black. The structure is, therefore, subsumed into the glass panels, so that it appears to vanish. Although very small - with a library area of 1 x 1.2m and a study of 2.3 x 2.7m - the sense of space, enveloped by garden, sky and water, is surprising. This is enhanced by the choice of white seamless Corian for all internal walls, floors, ceilings and furniture. Walking into the study from the kitchen, the floor appears to become the seating, while the whole space has been lowered into the ground so that the desk is at the same level as the garden. This gives a special view across low-level planting and grass to the water beyond, while reducing the impact of the studio on the garden and making those sitting here essentially invisible from the canal. Lighting is also used to screen the extension while helping to avoid the feeling of sitting in a black box at night. By grazing the fritting of the glass panels with light both internally and externally and carefully balancing the light levels, these become partly opaque, forming a virtual curtain at night. Commissioned as a study for parents, the room has been taken over by their children - on condition that it is left empty after use - for homework, drawing and reading: a hot desking hub for a family of five.

This project involved the construction of a fully glazed extension on a reinforced concrete base lowered as far as possible while maintaining the existing drainage run below ground. This was brought into a trench in the slab to achieve the lowest possible floor level. The glazed extension was created from four large double glazed units, one for each of the three walls and another for the roof, the largest being 2.7m by just over 2.3m in size and weighing 375kg. The outer pane is 12mm toughened glass, while the inner is laminated with an ionoplast interlayer (Sentryglas plus) from two 6mm heat- strengthened sheets. All glass is specified with a low iron content to ensure maximum clarity. The glass roof is supported directly off the glass walls and secured with a white coloured structural silicone, white spacer bars and white painted strips inside the double glazed units at junctions to provide a uniform appearance. Where the glazing abuts the original building the glass is held between two angles chased into the brickwork to ensure they are concealed behind the wall finishes.