Some projects don’t require an extension to completely revitalise a family home, and create new valued living spaces that feel vibrant and contemporary.

This project in St James, Walthamstow, maintained the footprint and structural principles of the existing terraced house, whilst creating a large new light and contemporary kitchen-dining space, without external groundworks and minimal interventions - investing the budget in new windows, surfaces, kitchen and joinery. As a whole, the design uses natural and recycled materials, characterful textures and patterns, and fresh, earthy tones, to create a warm, tactile, individual feel to the space.

The catalyst for the refurbishment was the clients’ desire to replace their existing boiler with an Air Source Heat Pump, providing a clean sustainable way to heat their home without gas or reliance on the Grid. A planning application by Fettle Studio was approved in September 2021 to install the ASHP unit in a more discreet location in the garden.

The colour green was already a favourite in the existing home, and with a love of gardening and the new large windows bringing the outside in, it felt right to use green at the heart of the new kitchen space, as well as the re-rendering externally.

The design for this project was tested and explained through a combination of modelmaking, collages and physical material samples. The layout merged the redundant spare room in the middle of the plan with the existing kitchen at the rear, which was dark and enclosed. New large windows were proposed to engage with the garden, surrounded by natural timber frames, shelving and window seat. The scheme also inserts a larder and cloaks cupboard in the depth of the plan, behind the new kitchen.

Material palette

Kitchen colour elevations

Garden room colour elevations