Two terraced houses in London were transformed into a spacious family home by the London based practice of Bureau de Change Design Office. This was the first project of its kind for this firm of young innovative architects, who met the challenge to perform a seamless transition from two houses into one and to build an extension to the home at the rear of the property.
At the outset it was deemed necessary to demolish a number of dividing walls and to create a new central core for the house, in this case, a wooden box like structure which functioned as additional storage space as well as a cloakroom. This also presented the opportunity as a base on which to attach a ‘floating’ staircase leading to the newly created upper level of the extension. The ground floor of the extension itself housed an ultra modern kitchen with two central stainless steel islands, concealed within a shell of resin so as to blend with the adjoining living space.
The street facade remained unaltered as a continuation of the neighbouring homes, however, the facade of the extension presented a totally different dimension to the home. A glass facade which stretched to the upper level, flooded the spaces with natural daylight and merged the indoor and outdoor spaces of the property. As to the interior of the home, a wonderful mixture of opposing elements add a unique character, the wall of reclaimed brick in the modern extension with its polished resin floor, the white walls with dark wooden floors throughout and the insight shown by the retention of many of the pre-existing features of the house. The result is a harmonious balance of the old and the new in the creation of this urban family residence.
