Scenario Architecture has finished an extension to an east London residence, featuring blackened wood cladding that references Japanese architecture, and a dedicated walkway for cats .
London-based mostly Situation Architecture – which also not too long ago added a sunken roof terrace to a London home – designed the extension in Hackney for a young couple, supplying them with a new kitchen-diner and residing area at the back of the residence.
“One of the owners is Japanese, and they requested a darker shade of wood to reference to Japanese garden extensions,” architect Fanis Anastasiadis informed Dezeen.
“The vertical planks also assist kind the curves of the design, and the colour creates contrast with the current house, giving the extension a far more modern seem.”
This 23.five-square-metre extension replaces a cluttered arrangement of rooms and an uninsulated conservatory at the back of the two-storey home.
“The previous ground-floor layout had segregated dark spaces and a poorly developed conservatory, so the owners ended up only employing the prime floor – they did not cook, and used the reception region for storage,” explained Anastasiadis.
“They wanted a much more open area that would be fit for a modern life style, with more light, a much better connection with the garden, area for working, and storage for their bicycles,” he additional.
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“Their request was not always for far more area, and that was reflected in the last layout. It is only 3.5 square metres bigger than ahead of, but functions far better for their wants.”
The kitchen-diner sits exactly where the conservatory utilized to be, and is set down lower than the rest of the ground floor to produce a degree threshold with the backyard, and to provide a degree of separation from the rest of the house.
The wall flanking the kitchen stops short of the ceiling to supply room on prime for a walkway, which is employed by the owners’ two cats. The walkway continues across the hall near the entrance, and via a hole in the wall to a area the place their litter tray is stored.
“The cats use it a good deal, particularly when there are site visitors in the property, as a implies to investigate the newcomers securely, and have a managed see of the entire ground floor,” mentioned Anastasiadis.
A new multipurpose area for reading through, comforting and functioning was additional beside the kitchen-diner, and protrudes more at the rear to give it a far more intimate partnership with the garden.
“The area is designed as a more personal, Japanese-inspired area, in which the owners can sit on the floor, or on pillows,” stated Anastasiadis. “The notion was to develop a secluded location with its own entry to the garden, which also nonetheless feels connected with the kitchen.”
The stepped type of the rear facade was also created to stick to the footprint of the earlier residence, in purchase to make it less difficult to receive preparing permission for the extension.
To minimise fees, the owners fitted the kitchen with ex-display cabinets from London-based mostly firm Simple Interiors.
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A spray-painted MDF kitchen island, designed by Situation Architecture, was also extra to the centre of the space, and characteristics a recess in the middle so the dining table to be tucked away when not in use.
In the front reception space, a double-sided fireplace was extra to generate a connection with the kitchen.
“The two-way fireplace acts like a window from the reception location to the kitchen, and allows the two rooms to benefit from the heat,” stated Anastasiadis.
Insulation was also additional to the ground floor to enhance the home’s energy efficiency, and a sedum roof was laid on prime of the extension, to offer an further level of insulation and a far more pleasant see from the rooms above.
Engineered oak flooring was utilized during the house, except in the kitchen, the place polished concrete was extra.
“We employed this various materials to signify a transition between the distinct areas in the open-strategy room,” mentioned Anastasiadis. “The concrete flooring is also difficult-sporting, easy to clean, and supplies a visual connection with the concrete paving tiles in the garden.”
Photography is by Matt Clayton.
Ground floor prepare 
Very first floor program Dezeen
