ivy heart

Background:

In the 1980s, a property boom in private housing, fueled by market liberalization, led to substantial volume housebuilding by private developers. Despite dominating suburban housing models in England and Wales, these homes often fall short of minimum design standards and sustainability quotas. Urban plans prioritize cars over pedestrianization and play areas, affecting local residents. Our client, residing in a uninspiring 1980s home in Crystal Palace, sought a transformative retrofit while adhering to Upper Norwood Conservation Area constraints. Embracing the challenge, we demolished 95% of walls to create an improved floorplan, enhancing daylight efficiency and the house's longevity. Preserving the popular vine heart on the flank wall, we established a new connection to the garden, fostering community gratitude. A carefully landscaped urban courtyard oasis now defines the house's contextual surroundings.

A double-height space on the first floor brings south-facing sunlight into the bedrooms, enhancing the living experience. To counter the dense urban view, we introduced an intensive green roof on the ground floor extension, so the main bedroom now overlooks a green garden accessible from a new Juliet balcony. The new bathroom has been specified with water-efficient appliances and the central heating has been fully replace with underfloor heating to ensure energy-saving operation and a consistent temperature throughout. The ground floor of this design maximises daylight to ensure all rooms have double aspect outlook, and the layout uses sliding doors and concealed utility spaces behind joinery to ensure it is open plan but highly functional and flexible for the homeowner.

In this project we were challenged to work with a very constrictive external building shell that could not be changed since it was in a Conservation Area, but which did not work as a liveable home offering quality of life and wellbeing. Our approach to design was focused on transforming the volume (on all levels) to ensure every room received natural daylight and to dramatically transform the liveability of the home. The before and after are simply non-recognizable, and the client frequently emails the studio enthusiastically remarking how the house has transformed his day-today.