Handen House

Our Handen House project involved remodelling and extending a detached Victorian villa which sits in a conservation area in Hither Green, Lewisham. The brief was to extend the house in a contemporary yet sympathetic way, which retained the character of the internal spaces, and that would make dramatic improvements to the dark, damp and unloved lower ground floor.

The extension, which utilises reclaimed bricks, slots into a two storey incision in the rear façade of the house. Two storey high slot windows on either side disengage the extension from the existing rear wall allowing it to lightly nestle into the existing fabric of the house. The top element of fixed glazing mirrors the rhythm of the lower thin framed sliding door, and is contained in a thin, blade-like, steel surround. Internally the space has been significantly reconfigured.

The stair leading from the principal floor of the house to the lower ground floor has been relocated and reorientated to improve the flow though the house, maximising light and the north facing views across the garden. Period features have been retained where possible, juxtaposing new and old elements. Part of the upper ground floor has been pulled back from the glazing line of the extension forming a mezzanine which adds height and drama and lets light penetrate more deeply into the lower ground floor and further increases the connectedness of the house.

Photography by Dome photography