AR Residence | deDraft

Briefed to undertake significant reconfiguration and extension works to a typical terraced Walthamstow house DEDRAFT have recently completed a unique and audacious remodelling.

Surrounded by colour in the occupations, an illustrator and librarian, their creative client were bold in their vision for the use of external colour - with a particular affinity for green and a desire for each new space to be flooded with daylight.This opened-up a wide range of potential materials and consideration for penetrations allowing the two to form the backbone of the design.

Despite being willing to stand out from the hotchpotch of largely, banal rear extensions tacked on over the decades they were keen to retain the low-level boundary fences, maintaining the existing neighbourly / dog related interaction and to enable the garden to feel less boxed-in and isolated.

Given the small footprint, a single-storey addition at ground floor, was added to meet the depth of the neighbour's rear addition, giving the optimum solution. Wrapping it across the garden between the adjacent additions a series of interconnecting linear spaces was created from front to back and appears as a continuing theme on all floors.

Opting for a matte dusty green finish a bespoke aluminium, folded panel system was developed, featuring vertical fins that offer increased depth over that of generic shallow standing-seam systems. An in-situ concrete plinth was cast and extruded out to form the patio finish. Sitting on top the simple, yet definitive detail adds rhythm, articulating the facade throughout the day.

Aligned with the composite timber/aluminium door system the lacquered natural pine internal mullions add further depth to the external skin, working together with the exposed structural Douglas Fir roof joists. These joists slide under rooflight, casting internal shadows to the kitchen /dining spaces. External concrete benches then project along both boundaries, folding down to meet the patio.

The interior is muted with large-format, concrete floor tiles and pale grey stack-bonded, sand-blasted concrete facing blockwork that envelopes the spaces, forming a backdrop for the bespoke light-grey and birch plywood handle-less kitchen. Simple joinery details have been highlighted to show simple ply lamination details with the seamless Corian worktops providing a soft and clean surface.

To the first floor, the internal walls were reconfigured to make more efficient use of the space, removing a window-less central bathroom, and freeing up space for a new naturally lit bathroom pushed to the rear. This family bathroom features matt-green porcelain tiles of varying sizes, a bespoke Corian basin and vanity with matt-black brassware.

A new double-height space was formed into which a new oak staircase provides access to the converted loft space. A large oversailing rooflight admits natural light to the client's illustration studio via a large internal window. The studio includes a well-lit reading room to the rear, with an aesthetic that echoes the ground floor. An additional electric rooflight was inserted in landscape format to suit the proportions of the studio library, that features a bespoke desk space and shelving housing the clients' extensive book and figurine collection.

Architects View
Keen to add a flourish of colour above the insitu concrete plinth the selection and detail of cladding was key. Rather than choose from the limited range of standard, shallow crimped standing-seam systems we sought to introduce increased depth in the form of vertical folded fins. Opting for a dusty green aluminium finish this added depth gives a more expressive, rhythmic façade, reducing all projecting elements to a slim 3mm, even where folded. The fixed sidelights were made bespoke to ensure the aluminium cladding could be bonded to the face of the glazing unit, giving a flush finish. The inverted aluminium detail is then replicated to the parapet eliminating the need for a deep, bulky parapet cap.

It had been the intention for the aluminium to lap up and over the roof however through the refining and 3D modelling of details alongside the installers we were not comfortable with the junction at the rooflight upstands. Standing seam systems can be folded on site to address these issues however to achieve a powder coated finish in the desired colour the aluminium was required to come pre-finished, eliminating the potential for site adaptations to this extent. Rather than risk water ingress where the projecting joints would restrict drainage routes the client opted to lay a wildflower roof instead.

Aligned with the composite timber/aluminium doors the lacquered natural pine internal mullions add further depth to the external skin, working together with the exposed, structural Douglas Fir roof joists. These joists slide unbroken across rooflight openings, casting shadows on the pale grey stack-bonded, sand-blasted concrete facing blocks that line the internal kitchen /dining spaces.

Contractor - BWP Ltd Structural Design — Centrespace Kitchen + Bespoke Joinery — Standforth Studio Joinery — Melons Cladding Supplier. Eltheringtons Cladding Installer - Carter Cladding Concrete Blockwork - Forticrete Windows / Doors - Velfac Fibre Concrete Cladding (loft) - Oko Skin via Purafacades Rooflights - Sterling Build Tiles - Tower Ceramics Wildflower Roof — Organic Roofs
Photography by Nick Dearden - https://www.buildingnarratives.co.uk/