North Town Moor

This property was a three bedroom 1960’s semi-detached house set in the outskirts of Maidenhead. The clients had already carried out a two storey extension towards the backyard and some internal refurbishment. They approached us during the phase of re-arranging the Kitchen and Entrance Hall/ Stairs layouts to reconfigure an open plan Kitchen/ Breakfast Room with views over the rear garden. We discussed the configuration of the new Kitchen/ Breakfast Room and how this would link with the possible conversion of the existing rear Garage into a residential Annex and single storey link between the house and the Garage. We looked at the possible roof design which could also have an aesthetic impact on the existing lean-to roof towards the back of the house.

The transition zone, linking the main house with the Annex for the parents, was designed as a sunny place where they could meet up as in a garden dayroom. This inner shared patio, is the main feature of the building now, and it is characterized by glazed corner doors and a central lantern.

By giving dignity to any architectural period and style, we chose to create a dialogue with the 60s building identity and language and reinterpreting its material and proportions into the modern extension, as in the windows or in the simplicity of the facade.

This silent neutral annex, infilling the plot, introduced a concept of capillarity, a distinctive element of an urban environment, into the architectural scale of a residential plot.