Room Tour: A Victorian House is Extended to Boost Light and Space
This terraced house was converted to work better for a young family – and to capitalise on an unlikely urban vista
Kate Burt
27 September 2020
Houzz UK. I'm a journalist and editor, previously for the Independent, Guardian and various magazines. I'm now excited to part of the editorial team at Houzz UK & Ireland, bringing the best of British and Irish design, interiors and architecture to Houzz.com.
Houzz UK. I'm a journalist and editor, previously for the Independent, Guardian and... More
The owners of this east London home converted the loft and extended the kitchen at the same time, so this is a bumper Room Tour, featuring spaces at the top and bottom of the house.
Originally, there were three bedrooms and one bathroom, which was next to the kitchen on the ground floor. The couple’s brief to architect Mike Tuck was to move this bathroom, create more space and better views, and use wood rather than plastic wherever possible, as well as build in ventilation and breathable materials throughout. After the renovation, the family has an extra bedroom, two upstairs bathrooms and a new utility room.
Originally, there were three bedrooms and one bathroom, which was next to the kitchen on the ground floor. The couple’s brief to architect Mike Tuck was to move this bathroom, create more space and better views, and use wood rather than plastic wherever possible, as well as build in ventilation and breathable materials throughout. After the renovation, the family has an extra bedroom, two upstairs bathrooms and a new utility room.
Rooms at a Glance
Who lives here? A young family with two small children
Location Leyton, east London
Property A Victorian terrace with four bedrooms and two bathrooms
Designer Mike Tuck of Mike Tuck Studio Architects
Contractor Carnot Construction, Woodford
Budget £150,000 for the loft conversion and kitchen extension, including two new bathrooms and a utility room
Room dimensions Kitchen, approx 3.7m x 5.5m; dining area, approx 3.7m x 2.7m; whole loft, approx 5m x 5.5m
Photos by Luca Piffaretti of Luca Piffaretti Photography
Downstairs, there had originally been the house’s only bathroom – accessible through the kitchen – and not as much floorspace as the growing family wanted. Mike extended the ground floor, full-width, by around 3m at the back and moved the bathroom upstairs, replacing it with a new cloakroom and utility room.
If you look at the house next door, you can see something close to what was here previously. “It’s a common layout for the houses in this area,” Mike says. The part of the extension that sticks out is where the original bathroom had been and where the utility room now is.
Mike also added the decking, which is cedar.
Who lives here? A young family with two small children
Location Leyton, east London
Property A Victorian terrace with four bedrooms and two bathrooms
Designer Mike Tuck of Mike Tuck Studio Architects
Contractor Carnot Construction, Woodford
Budget £150,000 for the loft conversion and kitchen extension, including two new bathrooms and a utility room
Room dimensions Kitchen, approx 3.7m x 5.5m; dining area, approx 3.7m x 2.7m; whole loft, approx 5m x 5.5m
Photos by Luca Piffaretti of Luca Piffaretti Photography
Downstairs, there had originally been the house’s only bathroom – accessible through the kitchen – and not as much floorspace as the growing family wanted. Mike extended the ground floor, full-width, by around 3m at the back and moved the bathroom upstairs, replacing it with a new cloakroom and utility room.
If you look at the house next door, you can see something close to what was here previously. “It’s a common layout for the houses in this area,” Mike says. The part of the extension that sticks out is where the original bathroom had been and where the utility room now is.
Mike also added the decking, which is cedar.
This shows the ground floor as seen from the other side of those windows, which are made from Siberian larch.
The square arch in the foreground is where the original house ended; beyond it, the extension’s unusual roof slopes away. “We wanted to bring light into the centre of the house where the kitchen is,” Mike explains, “so we put the two big rooflights as far back as possible.”
The roof design also takes into account the south-facing aspect. “It’s what you call a deep reveal,” Mike says. “The depth between the glass and the inside of the roof takes out some of the strength of the light on a hot day.”
Mike and the owners liked the idea of being able to show the roof’s timber structure, too, but it was the owners’ idea to continue the timber over the rooflights. “It creates interesting shadows,” Mike says.
The floor is solid oak, finished with Osmo oil.
Table, West Elm. Dining chairs, Made.com.
The square arch in the foreground is where the original house ended; beyond it, the extension’s unusual roof slopes away. “We wanted to bring light into the centre of the house where the kitchen is,” Mike explains, “so we put the two big rooflights as far back as possible.”
The roof design also takes into account the south-facing aspect. “It’s what you call a deep reveal,” Mike says. “The depth between the glass and the inside of the roof takes out some of the strength of the light on a hot day.”
Mike and the owners liked the idea of being able to show the roof’s timber structure, too, but it was the owners’ idea to continue the timber over the rooflights. “It creates interesting shadows,” Mike says.
The floor is solid oak, finished with Osmo oil.
Table, West Elm. Dining chairs, Made.com.
“The clients wanted the lighting in here to be quite low-level,” Mike says. “There’s just a pendant and two wall lights. They didn’t want any downlights. They find it’s plenty – they’re just in here eating or listening to music.”
There’s a small step up to the kitchen; this was so as to be able to create a flush line onto the decked patio instead.
The section of wall behind the dining table shows where the back of the original house was. Mike put in a steel frame to support and open up the new space.
Browse the Houzz Professionals Directory to find an architect or building designer in your area.
The section of wall behind the dining table shows where the back of the original house was. Mike put in a steel frame to support and open up the new space.
Browse the Houzz Professionals Directory to find an architect or building designer in your area.
“By the end of a project, you’ve often made some really nice glazing, and then blinds or curtains seem incongruous,” Mike says. So here, he designed a small trough in which to conceal blinds. “It’s the sort of thing architects love,” he laughs.
Mike and the owners decided against full-width doors opening up the back of the house. “We talked about this a lot and agreed the number of days when you can do this in the UK is fairly small,” he says. “It seemed more important to have somewhere you can sit and be connected to the garden.” So instead, there’s a bench and tall windows next to French doors.
Mike and the owners decided against full-width doors opening up the back of the house. “We talked about this a lot and agreed the number of days when you can do this in the UK is fairly small,” he says. “It seemed more important to have somewhere you can sit and be connected to the garden.” So instead, there’s a bench and tall windows next to French doors.
The kitchen is Ikea with bespoke birch plywood faces for the units, made by the contractor. “That was mainly a cost thing,” Mike says.
The marble worktops came from a local supplier and fitter, meaning the couple were able to go and see the stone before buying it.
The face of the island, seen here, is covered with large-format porcelain tiles and the sides are ply.
The layout of the kitchen was the same as the one the owners previously had. “They’d fiddled with their previous kitchen until they found something that worked for them; they just didn’t like the quality of the old one,” Mike says.
This photo is taken from just in front of a wall of books and a space where the children play.
Light fittings, Ferm Living. Island chairs, Made.com. Splashback tiles, Fired Earth.
The marble worktops came from a local supplier and fitter, meaning the couple were able to go and see the stone before buying it.
The face of the island, seen here, is covered with large-format porcelain tiles and the sides are ply.
The layout of the kitchen was the same as the one the owners previously had. “They’d fiddled with their previous kitchen until they found something that worked for them; they just didn’t like the quality of the old one,” Mike says.
This photo is taken from just in front of a wall of books and a space where the children play.
Light fittings, Ferm Living. Island chairs, Made.com. Splashback tiles, Fired Earth.
The window as seen from the garden. The deep windowsill, although not designed as such, doubles up as a seat.
Upstairs, there’s a new, oak-clad staircase up to the converted loft space. “The contractor had a very good woodworker who clad a softwood staircase with some of the flooring from downstairs and used standard bits of balustrade to make something interesting,” Mike says.
The modern style marks the change as you climb up into the new part of the house.
The modern style marks the change as you climb up into the new part of the house.
This Victorian terrace – unusually for London – has a large stretch of open land behind it and the owners wanted to capitalise on the wonderful views this allows. The loft design, which has created a main bedroom, a second bathroom and a study, takes this into account, while mitigating the effect of strong sunlight, as the back of the house faces south.
“It’s a lot of space to get out of one roof,” Mike acknowledges, “but it’s within Permitted Development size. It’s a dormer box on the rear side and there are a couple of Velux windows on the street-facing side. We’re fortunate that it was a tall roof, so the spaces could be generous.”
The bespoke windows, designed to echo those on the ground floor, are made from Douglas fir.
“It’s a lot of space to get out of one roof,” Mike acknowledges, “but it’s within Permitted Development size. It’s a dormer box on the rear side and there are a couple of Velux windows on the street-facing side. We’re fortunate that it was a tall roof, so the spaces could be generous.”
The bespoke windows, designed to echo those on the ground floor, are made from Douglas fir.
“Until the 1960s or 70s, there was another row of houses behind this one, but they were demolished to make room for the A12,” Mike explains. “It means the back of the house looks over 200 to 300 metres of open space before you reach the road, and it’s full of wildlife and really quite nice.” Mike says the road is not visible from the house, though occasionally it’s audible.
The brief for the loft was to have a room that was full of light and able to capture this big view over the open space, plus, because it’s south-facing, to make sure it didn’t overheat. As such, the tall windows have concealed blackout blinds.
Only one of them partially opens. “Because they come down low, it was a safety thing,” Mike explains.
The brief for the loft was to have a room that was full of light and able to capture this big view over the open space, plus, because it’s south-facing, to make sure it didn’t overheat. As such, the tall windows have concealed blackout blinds.
Only one of them partially opens. “Because they come down low, it was a safety thing,” Mike explains.
For additional ventilation, there’s a separate window higher up with an external shutter. This way, air can circulate without strong sunlight flooding in.
When the shutter is closed, it ‘disappears’ into the rest of the cladding.
When the shutter is closed, it ‘disappears’ into the rest of the cladding.
The dormer is clad in slimline battens of Siberian larch, which will silver over time.
The new guttering and downpipes are all zinc rather than plastic. “They will turn a lovely sliver-grey colour, the same as the timber will eventually be,” Mike says. As well as looking nice, they could be recycled.
The new guttering and downpipes are all zinc rather than plastic. “They will turn a lovely sliver-grey colour, the same as the timber will eventually be,” Mike says. As well as looking nice, they could be recycled.
The loft also contains a new shower room. The large rooflight adds a little headroom above the loo and also stretches into the generous shower enclosure, giving an inside/outside feel to the small space.
The room is pale and uncluttered, with a deep storage cabinet built in next to the loo.
The owner cast the striking concrete basin himself.
Rather than having a tiled shower tray and a full wetroom, Mike and the owners chose a tray that would instead sit flush to the tiles. The decision was partly to do with headroom, as a wetroom tray would have required slicing 40 to 50mm off the floor joists to allow for the necessary waterproofing layers and enough ceiling height.
Wall light, Etsy. Tratti tiles by Inga Sempé, Mutina. Brassware, Lusso Stone.
The room is pale and uncluttered, with a deep storage cabinet built in next to the loo.
The owner cast the striking concrete basin himself.
Rather than having a tiled shower tray and a full wetroom, Mike and the owners chose a tray that would instead sit flush to the tiles. The decision was partly to do with headroom, as a wetroom tray would have required slicing 40 to 50mm off the floor joists to allow for the necessary waterproofing layers and enough ceiling height.
Wall light, Etsy. Tratti tiles by Inga Sempé, Mutina. Brassware, Lusso Stone.
Here’s the back of the house lit up at dusk.
“We learned a lot from this project that we’ve taken onto others,” Mike says, “including how to reduce plastic and VOCs, and about making structures as breathable as possible. This helps with damp and boosts natural ventilation, allowing room for the moisture to move within the walls, so you don’t have to rely on trickle vents, extractor fans and open windows.”
Tell us…
What inspires you in this thoughtful extension and conversion project? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
“We learned a lot from this project that we’ve taken onto others,” Mike says, “including how to reduce plastic and VOCs, and about making structures as breathable as possible. This helps with damp and boosts natural ventilation, allowing room for the moisture to move within the walls, so you don’t have to rely on trickle vents, extractor fans and open windows.”
Tell us…
What inspires you in this thoughtful extension and conversion project? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
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Where're the windows from
I love it. Those windows overlooking the garden are just beautiful. Hate bifolds that open into a massive open space. The loft that will eventually turn silver with age is also a great feature. Will totally blend in . Just love it , a family home not a show house
A superb light filled space, very well designed.