Burrows Road Glazed Envelope
The house is a typical two storey plus attic mid-terrace property, with double height rear outrigger extension located in Kensal Rise. There were a number of issues with the property, namely the existing 'alley' between rear outrigger and boundary wall which had no purpose in the modern occupancy of the house and the property had been untouched for a long time allowing for carte blanche with the modernisation. In addition, the existing cellular ground floor layout did not perform cohesively nor efficiently and light struggled to penetrate into the existing spaces. Another issue was that there was a rat infestation in the void below the ground floor suspended timber floorboards, which was subsequently backfilled with hardcore and concrete.
The proposal was to improve the quality of light and chop up the existing disparate internal ground floor layout to allow for an open-plan area and more fluidity between the Kitchen/Dining and TV Room and rear garden. The side alley becomes an internal space by way of a frameless glazed envelope which allows for views to the sky and rear garden from deep within the plan, giving the space an external character.
The contrasting material palette was chosen to create drama and distinction between the 3 main areas by way of emphasising the varied sensory experiences. Encaustic tiles greet you on entering the house leading you to distressed Oak flooring in the front Reception Room and TV Room. To contrast with the Oak flooring and Encaustic tiles, polished concrete floor was chosen for the open plan Kitchen Dining area which extends to a flamed basalt stone for the external patio unifying these areas. The rear patio and Kitchen Dining areas are further unified by a continuous internal external brick wall consisting of London Stock bricks which were reclaimed during demolition of the side and rear openings.
The TV room was painted dark grey to create a cave-like chill-out area and accentuate the new opening onto the daylight-filled Dining and Kitchen. A brass watermark collection Brooklyn tap is positioned on the kitchen island and brass pendant lights define this central space.
A mild steel bike shelter was designed to be positioned on an existing rendered boundary wall, painted to colour match the sliding doors frames.
