Maida Vale House

The organisation of the existing flat was re-planned to re orientate the living spaces towards the garden, allowing for the addition of a dining space and a second bedroom.

The entrance corridor was shortened by moving the kitchen away from the garden and inserting the dining room in its place. The social spaces between the entrance and garden were fully interconnected and widened gradually to culminate in a full width extension into the garden, creating the new living room.

Conceptually the existing floor, walls and ceiling to the extension were “drawn out” as a continuing extrusion of the existing volume. The new space was contained within the horizontal and vertical boundaries of the site.

The timber floor surface pushes out beyond the envelope blurring the boundaries between inside and outside. The timber surface, extending beyond the building, describes a larger “room” containing the garden and external surfaces adjoining the site.

The living room has a series of large glazed sliding folding doors that create both a visual and physical connection with the garden. The exterior space is “included” within the interior and the “enclosure” of space is extended through the glazing to the wall at the end of the garden. During the summer months the living area is entirely opened to the garden.

Between the living room and the existing building an external space “captured” within the built form allowing the programmes of the outside (nature) and inside (home) areas to be entwined.

Winner - AJ Robin Ellis Small Projects Award