Whitton Road is a recently completed refurbishment, rear extension and loft conversion to a two storey, end of terrace Victorian home in Twickenham. The design makes efficient use of the existing footprint of the house, rearranges spaces to suit modern family life, and refurbishes original spaces and features.
The house now contains a combination of cellular and open plan spaces. Original rooms have a simple finish, with upgraded services and retained period features. In contrast, the new kitchen opens out onto the new dining and family living area. The new space is flooded with natural light from a glazed side return and full height sliding aluminium framed doors.
The new rear elevation is lowered to allow level access to the garden. Orientated towards the garden, it creates a new physical and visual link between inside and outside. As well as providing more living space, the extension addresses the splayed geometry of the garden and helps to provide a robust and defined boundary to the site.
The original building is a double fronted traditional Victorian house. While the restored Whitton Road elevation retains its strong original character, it is juxtaposed with a more contemporary side elevation to provide a positive architectural addition to the neighbourhood. Here a series of clerestory windows, set beneath a zinc roof, appear to float above a tall new boundary wall. The brick and slate palette used for the first floor of the new extension connects the new with the old, while two zinc-faced dormers add a final contemporary flourish.
Existing materials are used both as a point of reference for the extension and to create several architectural points of interest, including the internal use of exposed whitewashed brickwork.
In an effort to reduce carbon emissions and improve comfort levels, the solid external brick walls have been insulated with traditional cork and lime plaster lining and all glazing has been replaced with matching double glazed sash windows.
