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In the featured project, we look at a four-bedroom, three-storey house in Walthamstow that desperately needed a change to accommodate the needs of a growing family in the immediate future and the years to come. It presented the opportunity to make changes to create a healthier home with high-quality design and energy efficiency.
One of the aspects of the original house that needed change was the poor circulation between the kitchen and dining room. There was also no direct access between the living spaces and the garden.
Gresford Architects designed new side and rear extensions and a new roof extension that maintained harmony with the neighbouring homes. The extensions reflect a distinct architectural language with a playful arrangement of pitches, roofs, and angles with charred timber cladding, sharply contrasting the original brickwork of the house.
The interiors, too, were entirely reordered and transformed to create an open-plan kitchen and dining, soaring double heights, and clear connections to the garden. New, energy-efficient sash windows replaced uPVC windows at the front of the house as part of the wider thermal upgrade. A new garden room was added to double as a home office.
The materials used throughout the exposed structure and surfaces combine beautifully to create a warm, tactile, and visually appealing home. The most significant aspect of the extension project is the use of Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), serving as a testament to the material's flexibility, impressive structural qualities, and environmental benefits. It also offers significant cost and construction time savings, highlighting how sustainable building materials can create one-off, future-ready homes. Let's tour the project to appreciate the finer details.
The new extensions are designed with a unique arrangement of differently pitched roofs and angles, creating an interesting visual.
Although it appears crisp and contemporary, the charred timber cladding provides a strong yet pleasing contrast to the house's original brick façade.
The original layout of the ground floor was reorganised to improve circulation between the living spaces. It included lowering the floor level to create a more comfortable and habitable interior, minimising the project's impact on the landscape.
The extension accommodates an open-plan kitchen and dining room, providing clear access to the living room.
By linking all the living spaces on the ground floor to the garden, the architects created a better relationship between the interior and exterior.
The design includes double-height spaces that add moments of drama, creating visual interest. The soaring double heights also invite natural light into the interior, creating an interesting play of light and shadow.
The interior features cast concrete and expressed structural elements, adding intrigue and offering contrast.
The roof extension incorporated a new guest bedroom and an additional bathroom to meet the family's needs.
Besides the visual elements that enhance the interior aesthetic, the performance-led project addresses climate change and the needs of the growing young family, preparing the house for now and the years to come.
The materials used throughout the project – CLT, steel, concrete, and historic brick, combine effortlessly to make a bold statement.
The Copeland Road project by Gresford Architects is the ideal example of forward-thinking domestic architecture that goes beyond addressing current needs to prepare the house for the future.
