Giles Pike Architects has extended this house in Putney, southwest London, using glass walls to flood the new basement living areas with natural light.
Local studio Giles Pike Architects designed the stepped extension for a Victorian semi-detached house to create an open-plan living, kitchen and dining room.
The architects excavated ground at the back of the Felsham Road property to extend the basement and removed the rear side wall. They added a new two-storey brick wall along the site boundary to make the most of the full width of the site.
"Our brief was to extend and improve the property to achieve its maximum potential and in so doing, we have exploited the volume within the house to create double-height spaces," said the architects.
"This was achieved by extending the basement areas and linking it with the ground floor and first floors."
Glazing bridges the gap between the flat roof of the one-storey volume and the smaller brick structure on the second floor to make a long clerestory window.
A large skylight also slots between the brick volume and the two-storey boundary wall, where it illuminates a staircase leading up to a mezzanine level overlooking the space.
"The generous volumes, plus the increased amount of natural light we have brought into the house with the large areas of clear frameless glazing combine to make this a spectacular house equipped for modern family living," said the architects.
The combined kitchen and dining area open to the garden, while the lounge occupies an alcove at the back of the space.
Here, a door leads through to the existing basement, which is now occupied by a bedroom and en-suite bathroom.
Simple finishes complement the exposed brick wall – dark wood covers the floor and the walls are painted white, while the kitchen cabinets and cupboards are all painted a charcoal grey.
Tom Pike and Matt Giles founded their Battersea-based practice Giles Pike Architects in 2008 and has since completed a number of residential projects across the capital, including the conversion of a Victorian workshop into a home and a timber-clad residence designed for a tiny plot.
Photography is by Logan McDougall.