Scandinavian Expansion
Sugar House - Hunting for George
This charming family home, distinctly shaped like intricately carved sugar bricks, represents a complete renovation and thoughtful extension of a classic 1950s suburban house in London. The primary goal of this ambitious project was to not only renovate but also to expand the existing post-war dwelling while carefully retaining a serene, natural Scandinavian feel and harmonious flow throughout the entire space. The innovative proposed design centered on reconfiguring the current house into a light-filled quad, incorporating a striking central oak staircase and featuring rooms that promote social interaction from this central hub. The facade is playful and imaginative, while still maintaining a sense of order and management; key feature windows are thoughtfully seated, with some recessed into the structure, while others showcase extruded flush framed glazing that elegantly extends outward.
Natural Living Spaces
A sophisticated palette of materials has been used to express the built form, including white stucco, polished white marble, oak, and a whitewashed interior. External masonry and stucco white render, internal natural Scandinavian whites and greys with warm oak floors and walls are the main building materials. This design features a two-story modern extension that wraps around the existing building. The staircase was moved to the center of the building, with staggered stepped living spaces surrounding it, allowing for better flow and visual connectivity.
Unashamedly Modern Family House
Adaptable Evolving Needs & Lifestyle
The next innovative solution we implemented was to significantly increase the overall size of the living spaces by strategically lowering the back portion of the house gracefully into the ground. This thoughtful design choice not only altered the landscape but also transformed the rear area of the house into an impressive three-metre-high volume of space, which in turn provided the main kitchen, dining, and living areas with a much larger scale and an enhanced sense of openness and connectivity. The end result was a beautifully balanced home that was both sympathetic to its rich heritage while still being unashamedly modern and highly adaptable to the evolving needs and lifestyle of the family living within it.
Sugar House Featured Hunting For George
Boosting Centralised Circulation
Flow Within & Between Focal Point
The central staircase has been elegantly tightened with vertical oak strips, significantly adding warmth and character to the interior spaces. The project’s challenges included the intricate process of centralising ventilation while also lowering the back of the building into the ground, which worked to create a wide three-meter-high volume of space that beautifully enlarged the main kitchen and dining area. Conceptually, this ambitious design meant that the building required a substantial amount of steel construction due to the removal of existing heavy walls, coupled with the exacting coordination of steelwork and ground mass removal to achieve the desired height. The thoughtful solution was to establish a centralized circulation system that would effectively boost flow within and between various spaces throughout the building. The cladding stands out as the focal point of the central core, and the carefully arranged oak vertical battens provide an inviting sense of natural grounding that enhances the overall aesthetic.
