The Woodland Wrap

The main challenge was to intervene in an entire floor level without ignoring the period features of the original house, yet giving space to a modern interior. This challenge was resolved by designing very visible transitions between the period Victorian house and the new modern interior.

The structural works were significant since they included a full demolition of the lower-ground floor while supporting the three storeys above. However, none of the supporting steel beams are visible and the space has been lifted gracefully off the ground. The transition was materialised as an oak threshold wrapped around the floor, walls and ceiling of every opening into the new interior. This oak wrap, which is called the ‘woodland-wrap’ became a key feature of the project.

This project shows how a space can be reborn without the need to build an extension. The new interior has added natural daylight, increased the connection with the garden, updated the services and thermal heating efficiency of the house and celebrated innovative building techniques through the construction and installation of two very difficult sliding doors into pocket walls. Importantly, the space has brought the family together in a way they have since celebrated on multiple occasions. The family can be united on the same living area, each occupied with their own interest and in their different ‘zone’.

Materiality and craftsmanship are at the heart of its design, nodding to the mature woodlands in its immediate surroundings, and echoing this with a considered use of solid oak as the main feature of the woodland wrap. There is beauty in the Umbra Sawtooth brickwork that has been carefully selected to mirror the intricacy of the Victorian brickwork at the front of the house, without overbearing in appearance.

Annual CO2 data was not provided