Home Design Minimalist

 Formerly, this house is a council house comprised of bland brick facades with aluminium-framed windows and a concrete tiled monopitched roof. Formerly, a south facing rear garden provided sanctuary within the bleak urban surroundings. This house is one of a small cluster of council houses set in prominent position at the head of a quiet cul-de-sac on the 1970’s housing estate.
The architects extended the existing house to provide more spacious accommodation, with an open plan ground floor layout and a new master bedroom with double height space at first floor, with the overall aim to give the house an individual character.

Preliminary discussion with the London Borough of Brent Conservation Officer were encouraging, and it was agreed at an early stage that an external render finish would be appropriate to provide a unified façade tying the existing walls in with thw new walls of the two-storey extension.

In order to create a more spacious ground floor, the existing cellular rooms were completely opened up to make a single open-plan space, and large full height sliding doors were inserted all around facing onto the garden. The space was also increased by the addition of a single storey rear extension in the form of a freestanding fin wall allowing fully glazed bays to push out into the newly landscaped garden, with a concealed roof terrace above.

Adding a third to its length to provide further accommodation for the ground floor and new double height bedroom space. At the front of the building, a new fin wall has also been introduced allowing a glazed bay to push out behind it with a roof terrace above. The small ground floor rooms of the existing dwelling have been knocked though to make a unified open-plan space.

The exterior of the house was finished with a simple palette of white render and red marrantie hardwood windows and cladding. The result is a house that stands out from its brick neighbours and catching the sunlight, brings a Mediterranean feel to its North London context. Desingned by Crawford Partnership