Even a small extension can make a huge difference to your home. In this case, extending just 1.5m enabled the creation of a spacious, comfortable and well proportioned kitchen in this family home in Leyton.

The space is orientated around a large family dining table, with kitchen counter on one side and joinery storage wall on the other.

Large, naturally framed composite glazing opens the kitchen onto the garden. The south facing space is shaded during summer with two beautiful deciduous trees, whose roots were protected by using screw pile foundations, with a light touch on the ground.

The interior material palette is calm, grounded and natural. The dark stone terrazzo floor gives a solid base to the kitchen, with variations in speckled colours picking up on interior finishes throughout the space, with a reflectant quality to gently bounce light deep into the room. The joinery backdrop comprises deep shelves, larder and laundry, using soft grey-green Valchromat. The kitchen is light and neutral, with a thin stainless steel worktop, mosaic splashback, built in cooker hood and simple timber shelf with wall lights over.

The exterior palette features red brick header bricks and curved red bricks to the reveals, bringing a softness and openness to the elevation, and drawing on existing red brick detailing in the existing building. Yellow London stock bricks are toothed in from the former outbuildings. Deep lead-lined gulleys allow the extension roof to rise higher that the original boundary walls, with raw aluminium rainwater goods.Light grey aluminium window framing and external lights bring contemporary touches to this calmly composed and elegant facade.