Lucy's House

The issue with our vast stock of Victorian and Edwardian homes is that they no longer serve contemporary needs, including ones that were extended in the ‘60s with ground floor bathrooms, lightless dining rooms and kitchens, and stairs steep enough to feel uncomfortable. The ambition was to give the house a new lease of life. For ArchitectureWK, this translated into providing light-filled spaces, upgrading the fabric of the building to mostly exceed current sustainability requirements and to provide a little playfulness to enhance the sense of space. The external appearance is consistent with surrounding styles and properties; a loft dormer that meets planning requirements yet is designed thoughtfully enough to allow it to stand out from the crowd. A gentle and unassuming rear extension that resonates with the humility of the retained front elevation. Internally, maximising the sense of space meant allowing for views from one end of the property to the other. The front room, which had been difficult to use, is now an anteroom to the space that our client uses the most. An open tread staircase, with views up to the loft and down from a dressing room table on the first floor, provides the playfulness tha
akes the space that little bit special. The built-in wardrobes were made of Birch Plywood and built on-site. The dining table is a section of leftover plywood. Nothing used in the construction and detailing was extravagant; everything was carefully chosen by the client.