St Leonard's Square, Kentish Town 'Rousseau through the window'

which together provide an unusual amount of space and peace for inner London. She has impossibly green fingers - both gardens are abundant in a way which appears artless - the flowers, shrubs and vegetables appear to have sprung up spontaneously. Helen approached TDA wanting little more than a thermal upgrade to the plot-wide1980s kitchen/dining extension (which was chilly in winter, too hot in summer), together with a makeover of her study and bathroom, and first floor roof terrace. Once it became clear how transformative these improvements could be the project expanded to include the reconstruction of Helen’s potting shed, so that her lovely garden was bookended with new buildings. One of the most striking things about Helen’s house was the close relationship between the interior and the garden - a myriad of plants jostled for attention directly outside the full-width glazing, resembling a Rousseau canvas pressed up against the glass. Introducing a formal pond directly adjacent to the rear facade pushed the burgeoning vegetation back but a new skylit window seat, projecting out over the pond, re-established the intimate connection between the interior and the garden; full height glazing framed the silhouettes of the foliage, and the Victorian terrace housing beyond, generating a new idealised view to replace ‘Rousseau’. This new extension, together with the potting shed opposite, unified the garden though a shared pallet of natural materials - London stock brick, oak windows, copper trims, green roofs); harmony between old and new was achieved with an architectural language, which sought to be both distinct (of its place) and universal (accommodating a rich eclectic interior).