Rear elevation showing existing refurbished house with two timber framed and render super-insulated extensions.
Inspiration for a large classic two floor brick house exterior in Other with a pitched roof.

Inspiration for a contemporary grey and pink galley open plan kitchen in Other with a submerged sink, flat-panel cabinets, white cabinets, pink splashback, stainless steel appliances, light hardwood flooring and an island.

This is an example of a midcentury grey and brown living room in London with grey walls, dark hardwood flooring and feature lighting.

A playful re-imagining of a Victorian terrace with a large rear extension. The project started as a problem solving exercise – the owner of the house was very tall and he had never been able to have a shower in the pokey outrigger bathroom, there was simply not enough ceiling height. The lower ground floor kitchen also suffered from low ceilings and was dark and uninviting. There was very little connection to the garden, surrounded by trees, which felt like a lost opportunity. The whole house needed rethinking. The solution we proposed was to extend into the generous garden at the rear and reconstruct the existing outrigger with an extra storey. We used the outrigger to relocate the staircase to the lower ground floor, moving it from the centre of the house into a double height space in the extension. This gave the house a very generous sense of height and space and allows light to flood into the kitchen and hall from high level windows. These provide glances of the surrounding tress as you descent to the dining room. The extension allows the kitchen and dining room to push further into the garden, making the most of the views and light. A strip rooflight over the kitchen wall units brings light deep into the space and washes the kitchen with sunlight during the day. Behind the kitchen, where there was no access to natural light, we tucked a utility room and shower room, with a second sitting room at the front of the house. The extension has a green sedum roof to ensure it feels like part of the garden when seen from the upper floors of the house. We used a pale white and yellow brick to complement the colour of the London stock brickwork, but maintain a contemporary aesthetic. Oak windows and sliding door add a warmth to the extension and tie in with the materials we used internally. Internally there is a palette of bold colours to define the living spaces, including an entirely yellow corridor the client has named ‘The Yolky Way’ leading from the kitchen to the front reception room, complete with hidden yellow doors. These are offset against more natural materials such as the oak batten cladding, which define the dining space and also line the back wall of the kitchen concealing the fridge door and larder units. A bespoke terrazzo counter unites the colours of the floor, oak cladding and cupboard doors and the tiled floor leads seamlessly to the outside patio, leading the eye back into the garden. A new bathroom with a generous ceiling height was placed in the reconstructed outrigger, with triple aspect windows, including a picture window at the end of the bath framing views of the trees in the garden. Upstairs we kept the traditional Victorian layout, refurbished the windows and shutters, reinstating cornice and ceiling roses to the principal rooms. At every point in the project the ergonomics of the house were considered, tall doors, very high kitchen worktops and always maximising ceiling heights, ensuring the house was more suited to its tall owner.

External view of black rendered extension from sunken courtyard garden
This is an example of a contemporary back terrace in Cambridgeshire.

Medium sized open plan living room in Melbourne with white walls and medium hardwood flooring.

Design ideas for a contemporary grey and pink l-shaped kitchen in Surrey with a submerged sink, flat-panel cabinets, white cabinets, pink splashback, glass sheet splashback, coloured appliances and an island.

To dwell and establish connections with a place is a basic human necessity often combined, amongst other things, with light and is performed in association with the elements that generate it, be they natural or artificial. And in the renovation of this purpose-built first floor flat in a quiet residential street in Kennington, the use of light in its varied forms is adopted to modulate the space and create a brand new dwelling, adapted to modern living standards. From the intentionally darkened entrance lobby at the lower ground floor – as seen in Mackintosh’s Hill House – one is led to a brighter upper level where the insertion of wide pivot doors creates a flexible open plan centred around an unfinished plaster box-like pod. Kitchen and living room are connected and use a stair balustrade that doubles as a bench seat; this allows the landing to become an extension of the kitchen/dining area - rather than being merely circulation space – with a new external view towards the landscaped terrace at the rear. The attic space is converted: a modernist black box, clad in natural slate tiles and with a wide sliding window, is inserted in the rear roof slope to accommodate a bedroom and a bathroom. A new relationship can eventually be established with all new and existing exterior openings, now visible from the former landing space: traditional timber sash windows are re-introduced to replace unsightly UPVC frames, and skylights are put in to direct one’s view outwards and upwards. photo: Gianluca Maver

the deck The deck is an outdoor room with a high awning roof built over. This dramatic roof gives one the feeling of being outside under the sky and yet still sheltered from the rain. The awning roof is freestanding to allow hot summer air to escape and to simplify construction. The architect designed the kitchen as a sculpture. It is also very practical and makes the most out of economical materials.

Photo of a small contemporary bungalow house exterior in London with wood cladding.

La terraza abierta al patio de manzana.
Small mediterranean apartment balcony in Barcelona with a roof extension.

Design ideas for a contemporary glass railing balcony in Madrid with a roof extension and feature lighting.

Small scandinavian home office in Nantes with white walls, a built-in desk and grey floors.

Photo of a contemporary back patio in Adelaide with concrete paving, a roof extension and a bbq area.

COM'1 DECLIC
Photo of a medium sized contemporary bathroom in Reims with medium wood cabinets, a corner shower, beige tiles, ceramic tiles, beige walls, ceramic flooring, a console sink, wooden worktops, an open shower and flat-panel cabinets.

Design ideas for a contemporary patio in Melbourne with an outdoor kitchen and a roof extension.

Karl Taylor
Contemporary two floor glass house exterior in Channel Islands.

Remodelled en-suite in Griffith, Canberra
Inspiration for a small contemporary ensuite bathroom in Canberra - Queanbeyan with white cabinets, a double shower, a one-piece toilet, white tiles, metro tiles, white walls, porcelain flooring, a vessel sink, marble worktops, grey floors, a hinged door and flat-panel cabinets.

Design ideas for a scandinavian bedroom in Nantes with pink walls.