Plumstead Pad

Having been the family home for over 25 years, the terraced house overlooking the Pool of London had become neglected due to extended periods of working away from home. The couple asked us to rejuvenate the house to provide a bolthole from the irregularities of their busy work life, with the flexibility to accommodate regular visits from their two grown up children.

The lower ground floor has been reorganised into a single open sequence of spaces linking the brightly lit, south-facing bay window at the front, through to a protected patio and rear garden. A polished concrete floor links three areas defined by the remaining stubs of the original walls and a change in floor level.

The kitchen has moved to the front with a large window seat set into the bay; the central area can be used for dining or home working; and a full width extension forms the more enclosed living space. The stepped profile of the living space arose from combining the practicalities of abutting the neighbouring houses’ extensions, with a high top-lit space to make the most of the north light. The resulting niches on either side give a sense of shelter and privacy.

Externally, the form is given a crisp, graphical emphasis through the use of Marley Eternit EQUITONE Natura cladding in dark grey, against the pale painted brickwork of the house. The cladding panels are returned into the openings to give a sense of a large lintel sitting on two posts, and lit in a reference to the clients’ theatre connections.

The lower ground floor form is repeated internally and externally on the 2nd floor roof extension, containing the master bedroom with panoramic views from Wembley to Rainham.