Added Value

SPECIAL FEATURE

To go up or go out? That’s the burning question for anyone looking to add value and space to their beloved abode. First floor additions and ground floor extensions are the unsung heroes of design, offering the opportunity for transformation. Here, the relationship between old and new takes centre stage—yet there is no cookie-cutter approach for how they communicate. We take a tour through two heritage homes revitalised by tailored extensions or additions, each dripping in creative thinking and innovation.

A London Local

Design: O’Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects Photography: Rory Gardiner Location: London, England

Removing a poorly laid out 1970s addition, O’Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects have introduced a highly-crafted solution to this north London townhouse. The owners hoped for a unified space that connected with the garden—and what better way than to use a tried and trusted natural material? From the windows to the walls, O’Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects have dressed the addition in buttery timber, sourced from a family-run workshop who fabricated and pre-assembled the material. But it doesn’t stop there—all of the furniture and storage are made from wood. In the garden, the timber is a warm contrast from the century-old brickwork, and is encased by new ‘London stock’ brick walls, that are designed to age just as the old.

“The new addition emphasises the connection with the garden by incorporating the dining area into the facade of deep vertical fins, which allow direct views out, yet sideways privacy.”

— Amalia Skoufoglou, director of O’Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects

Grand & Gabled

Design: Edmonds + Lee Architects Photography: Joe Fletcher Location: San Francisco, USA

“ The renovation of the home focused on a spatial play with the gabled roof, prioritising height to exaggerate the natural form of the feature in every room that touches it.”

— Robert Edmonds, Director of Edmonds + Lee Architects

For Edmonds + Lee Architects, it was the trust of a creative client that sparked this light-filled celebration of an old San Francisco Victorian and most poignantly, its pitched roof.

Deviating from the standard flat ceiling, every additional space —dubbed individual “stages” of the home—honours the gabled form, best seen in the attic. The renovation is anchored by light, streaming from the attic skylights and filtering down the ethereal staircase. From three sides, vistas open up all of the shared spaces for a sweeping panorama of sunlight and greenery. The interiors are described by director Robert Edmonds to “reach up toward the central peak of the home and are filled with designer works by Arne Jacobsen, Carl Hansen and B&B Italia on a bed of Dinesen flooring.