David Mikhail Architects won the New London Architecture's Don't Move, Improve! competition with this project extending a London terraced house by just one metre.

Called Hoxton House, the project involved reconfiguring the interior and connecting it to the small courtyard garden through the addition of a glazed facade with timber frame.

Part of the living room floor was removed at the rear of the house to create a double-height kitchen and dining area in the basement.

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Here are some more details from David Mikhail Architects:

An extension of only one metre combined with a reworking of the interior, has transformed this Victorian house. A two-storey cruciform façade is engineered from timber (Douglas fir) and structurally bonded double-glazing.

A white kitchen and concrete floor are offset with natural materials and warm brick hues in the small courtyard.

Like our ‘Square House’ in Camden, this property had a multitude of small rooms, and the architectural organisation is very similar, only on a smaller scale. A tiny kitchen sat underground in the semi basement, with a head height of only 2m.

Above: front of the property

The garden was accessed from the half landing of a cramped servants staircase.

Above: rear of the property before project began

Aims

Whilst modest in scale, we wanted to give the house a grander architectural order to complement the existing rooms. The clients are a young couple and they wanted a great place for eating or watching each other cook or chat. They felt it essential that the new room should be connected to the garden, even though it is small.

Strategies

By taking away fabric as well as adding it, we have been able to carve out a set of new relationships. The house was extended to the rear by only one metre so as not to encroach too much on the rear garden, or to affect the neighbours. Even so, in such a small property this single move has revealed a new potential for how the house and its courtyard garden are experienced.

We also removed part of the upper ground floor in two places; firstly to give access for a new stair at the front of the house, and secondly at the rear to give height to the basement. This provides a generous double height dining area and kitchen that connects directly to the garden. The vistas and drama that unfold within this small house, as you walk in directly off the street in Hoxton are a complete surprise.

Material

A two-storey cruciform façade is engineered from timber (Douglas fir) and structurally bonded double-glazing. A white kitchen and concrete floor are offset with natural materials and warm brick hues in the small courtyard, which was also refashioned by the architects.

See also:

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