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Bronze House

Extensive reworking of an Edwardian family home with full width rear bronze framed extension and basement excavation

The catalyst for this refurbishment was a growing family and its evolving needs which demanded an improved layout and connectivity between formal and informal spaces as well as an increase in space.

Through an intensive briefing period we identified with the client the important adjacencies of use and set out parameters of privacy. From this flow diagram we developed how the family would like to live and use space now and in the future. The spatial hierarchy that subsequently developed bought clarity to the proposals and helped to define their large internal Architecture. Given the intrinsic benefits of these Edwardian properties with their generous lateral spaces, it was also important that spaces felt well defined to avoid vacuous impersonal space. The resolution of the 12m long 2-storey façade was to emphasise a sense of lightness and movement crafted in a paternated brass fenestration that would sit comfortably against the backdrop of the existing masonry. New timber ceiling beams help articulate the extended volume and provide a softness to mesh the contemporary extension in to the period property.

The rear garden was pulled away from the house on one side to allow light and space to the basement excavation and family room while on the opposite side a large terrace allows the kitchen to flow out to and directly connect with the garden.