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London studio Bureau de Change has used different varieties of terrazzo to create a richly textured interior for a remodelled family home.Frame House is a Victorian terraced home in south London, renovated and extended by Bureau de Change for a property developer and her family.
The ground floor of Frame House is split over three levels
The project involved adding a rear extension, converting the loft and completing revamping the interior. But most importantly, the client wanted to give the home a distinct character and coherency throughout.
The architecture studio achieved this with a carefully planned colour and material strategy, and through playful use of geometry.
The lounge occupies the extended rear of the house
“The brief was to create a coherent journey through all spaces and floors,” explained architect Billy Mavropoulos, who co-founded Bureau de Change with partner Katerina Dionysopoulou.
“We needed a holistic design, looking at everything from the architecture of the extension, to the layouts and the way the spaces are used, down to the joinery handles and details,” he told Dezeen.
“The client was after a rich palette of finishes and colours, but one that would feel consistently part of the same narrative.”
Different varieties of terrazzo were chosen for different areas
As is common with Victorian terraces, Frame House has a split-level layout that helps to make the floor plan more efficient.
In the new layout, the ground floor is divided over three levels, comprising the kitchen, dining space and lounge. The two split-level upper storeys contain three en-suite bedrooms, a separate bathroom and a study room.
Terrazzo was the material that Mavropoulos and Dionysopoulou chose to unite the various spaces. It is a material the pair are familiar with, having previously used it in another residential project, Folds House.
Different shades of taupe feature on each of the ground floor levels
Here, they decided to work with different varieties of terrazzo to give each space its own character, while subtly tying them all together.
On the ground floor the flooring is a taupe terrazzo in three slightly different shades – one for each level. This creates a gentle transition from light to dark, starting with the kitchen at the front of the house and ending with the lounge at the rear.
A green marble terrazzo was chosen for the staircase handrail
“We chose them very carefully so that they are all of the same family but vary in darkness/density,” said Mavropoulos.
“The colour difference is very subtle as we did not want the floor to take over. But when you look closely you notice the difference.”
Other details have been picked out contrasting terrazzo varieties: a kitchen island features shades of red and black, the staircase handrails are a green marble terrazzo, and each bathroom has its own different shade.
The master bedroom on the first floor features an en-suite with grey terrazzo
The geometries of the design are based around the rear extension, which gives the occupants a large living space.
Keen to avoid the 45-degree angled roof and frameless glass typical of infill extensions, the architects opted for a more cuboidal approach. Steel frames create staggered glass boxes, which Mavropoulos and Dionysopoulou liken to museum display cases.
The new loft bedroom features an en-suite with pale terrazzo and pink walls
“When we looked at the cascading volumes in plan and section, we felt there was an element of fragility to them, almost like a jewel stone, so we decided to make them out of glass to enhance that feel,” said Mavropoulos.
“These distinctly cubist glass volumes are articulated through their bold steel-frame construction, expressing each edge in a manner that creates shifting patterns of light and space, and a paradoxical sense of both levity and solidity,” added Dionysopoulou.
The terrazzo also extends into the garden, forming cascading planters
These cascading box forms are referenced in other places, such as the proportions of the split floor levels, or the planting boxes in the garden. There’s also a glass display case in the dining area.
Other details contribute to the personality of these spaces. The lounge room brings together a floral-patterned rug and a large cactus plant, while the dining space features a wall of shelving filled with various objects and books.
The architects hope the result is one of “theatre and tactility”.
Photography is by Gilbert McCarragher.
Project credits
Architect: Bureau de ChangeInteriors: Bureau de ChangeEngineer: SymmetrysM&E: MWLContractor: Argyll LondonLandscape: Tulip Landscapes
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Minimal white living spaces lie behind the blackened timber facade of this extension that Studio Hallett Ike has added to a Victorian flat in north London.The flat, which has been titled ER Residence, occupies the ground floor of a Victorian terrace. Studio Hallett Ike said that, prior to its intervention, the flat had a well-proportioned layout, but unfortunately was only able to accommodate a single bedroom.
Now, thanks to a rear extension, the flat contains a second bedroom – which doubles up as a study – and a dining room.
Beams of charred larch clad ER Residence’s extension
“Essentially we wanted to create a property that would work for a young family living in London that wants an aspirational, clean, minimal design whilst retaining a realistic project budget,” the studio’s co-founder, Madeleine Ike, told Dezeen.
“The idea being that it could act as a case study for other London residents in the same situation without a huge budget.”
The extension contains an additional bedroom
The extension is rectilinear in form and clad with beams of blackened English larch, which were charred by hand on-site.
“Doing this, rather than painting or staining, allows the texture and grain of the larch to feel very present, and to age and patina over time,” the studio explained.
“The colour changes depending on the weather and time of year; during the winter months it has silvery hues, but evolves to appear warmer in the summer.”
A desk in the bedroom offers a place for inhabitants to work
Two different-sized windows also punctuate the extension’s exterior, which are both framed with aluminium.
The slightly wider window looks through to the bedroom-cum-study, which has been finished with clean white walls.
The extension also plays host to a dining room
A wide panel of Douglas fir wood has been set at the rear of the room, serving as a headboard for the bed. To the side of the room is a three-tier shelving unit and a desk where inhabitants can sit and work.
Burnt House is a charred wood extension that looks like a Japanese tea house
The narrower window in the extension offers a view of the dining room.
Douglas fir has been used here again to create a seating bench – a cut-out in the shape of a cat’s head has been made in the bottom corner, through which the owners’ feline companion can crawl to access a cosy cubby.
The dining room table is accompanied by a Douglas fir bench
Studio Hallett Ike has continued the colour and material palette of the extension through to the rest of the home. The updated kitchen, for example, boasts Douglas-fir cabinetry and a white terrazzo splashback.
Grey terrazzo has then been used to line surfaces in the bathroom.
Terrazzo appears in the flat’s kitchen, and the bathroom
Walls in the living area have been coated with a pale grey plaster that stops just beneath the room’s original plaster cornicing. The existing wooden floorboards here were also preserved and sanded down to expose more of their natural grain.
Black-metal furnishings such as the coffee table and overhead lighting fixture were included to “give weight and depth” to the space.
Pale grey plaster coats walls in the living room
“The overarching design approach was to carry out a small number of strong but simple moves that are consistently applied, sitting at the heart of every design consideration,” added the studio.
“These come together to create an overall impression that is minimal and timeless, exuding an assured and understated elegance.”
The living room also features the flat’s original wooden floorboards
Studio Hallet Ike was founded by Madeleine Ike and Jonty Hallett in 2018. The studio’s ER Residence isn’t the only London property to feature a charred-wood extension – Rider Stirland Architects added a blackened timber volume to a house in Ladywell.
Will Gamble Architects also used scorched wood to create a Japanese tea house-style extension for a home in Fulham.
Photography is by Ståle Eriksen.
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Szczepaniak Astridge has added a rooftop extension to Leaf House, a terrace in south London for architectural photographer Edmund Sumner and writer Yuki Sumner. Designed to be a peaceful retreat, the loft extension contains the Sumners’ master bedroom and features a wooden bath positioned against a large window with views across London. “Leaf House was […] More
The two-floor extension that Studio Bright has added to this Edwardian family home in Melbourne includes fun features like a theatre-style sitting room and a pool that resembles a Roman bath. The Edwardian-era home is perched on the peak of Ruckers Hill in Melbourne’s Northcote suburb, looking out over the city. Inside it had a […] More
Mexican architect Delfino Lozano has turned a family home in Guadalajara into four apartments detailed with blue-painted beams and arched doorways. Lozano created four one-bedroom residences in a two-storey property located in the Santa Teresita neighbourhood of the Mexican city. The architect said he designed the complex, called House B836, to follow as much of […] More
