Dalston House

The project is a substantial upgrade to the young family’s house in need of modernisation and refurbishment. Our design adds a new light-filled side extension at the ground floor level for a flexible dining room/kitchen space.

Large apertures which open out to the garden and a continuous brick pamment level threshold were introduced to create a better connection between the house and the garden.

Previously the front door opened straight into the living room. The joinery was used to create a separation between the entrance and the living room and much-needed storage, for coats on the entrance side and a media point for the clients’ record collection and projector in the living room.

Mindful of retaining the existing character of the house, the original ground floor rear window openings, with its curved brick arch, made a natural doorway between the kitchen and reception-living room. The Yellow London Brick façade of the original house was retained and left exposed within the extension to show the threshold between the original and new extension.

Reclaimed London Yellow brick denotes the footprint of where the old house, the new infill extension clad in Western Red Cedar on the new side infill is set back to keep it subservient to the existing house. Although the property is in a conservation area, the council approved the cladding on the basis the Western Red Cedar defines the newest part of the building and adds a new layer to the evolution of the house.

The design incorporates passive design elements.
The typical form of Victorian Terrace’s tend to be narrow and long. This creates dark spaces to the centre of the building which need to be artificially lit.
By incorporating large apertures to the rear extension along with the large skylight to the rear infill, the amount of natural light internally is vastly increased minimising the needs for artificial lighting throughout the day.

We have also incorporated solar control glazing which reduces the amount of heat gain during the day.
This allows the space to be naturally lit without becoming an overly heated green house.
The openings not only create a stronger connection to the rear garden blurring the line between outside and inside, it also allows natural cross ventilation through the open floor plan.

The rear extension incorporates an underfloor heating system which ensure that the brick pammet floor is comfortable to walk on throughout the year, whilst being highly efficient at heating the ground floor.

It was important to reclaim as much material within the build both aesthetically and environmentally.

By reusing the demolished bricks from the site, we were able to reduce waste which would have gone to landfill, reduced the amount of embodied energy used in the materials of the build and associated transport costs.

Where possible we increased the insulation to the property vastly exceeding what is currently the requirements set out in Building Regulations to ensure that the heating requirements and costs throughout the next decades are reduced.

One of the challenges when refurbishing London Victorian properties is the footprint. With space being a premium, every nook was carefully considered and designed to maximise the amount of space for living and storage. By lowering the floor to the extension, the space under the stairs could be converted into utility space with full-sized washing machine and tumble dryer.

The kitchen cupboards were designed with a storage bench built into the new window box snug area. Each part of the floor plan can be activated as mini-spaces in its own right. The dining table can be folded away and a continuous open-plan space connecting the living room to the garden is achieved through opening the large aperture door and window.

All the services and additional structures have been hidden inside the walls to maximise usable internal space and allows for the flexible use of space. Concealed pipes on the rear façade to create a clean uninterrupted elevation.

The detailing was carefully considered, with most of the existing bricks reclaimed and cut into slips to patch areas that weren’t in good condition. We also developed a cut brick soffit detail to conceal the frame for the corner window which enhanced the monolithic presence of the brick. We decided to adjust the pitch of the existing outrigger to create a symmetrical pairing to the new pitched roof of the extension creating a balanced façade. The earthy quality of the clay brick floor is contrasted against reflective brass handles and sanitaryware.

Architect: Neil Dusheiko Architects – Project Architect: Fabian Danker
Contractor:Sygnet Style – Mark Skehill
Engineer:Momentum – Josh Yarrien
Party Wall Surveyor:The Party Wall Partnership - Marc Newton

Timber:Woodtrend
Kitchen Worktop:Dekton by Blueprint Ceramic
Brick floor:Lubelska
Joinery:MG Joinery
Sanitaryware:Franke
Glazing:Grove Windows
Lighting:Mr Resistor, Modern Lighting Solutions,
Tiles:Blueprint Ceramic

Fran Rance, 33, an immigration solicitor, and Tom Huntingford, 34, who runs an independent film and TV production company. The couple cut their teeth renovating a 400 sq ft top floor studio flat within the Brutalist 1950s Golden Lane estate in Shoreditch. Five years later, the busy road and lack of space prompted them to sell up. With less properties available after the EU referendum in 2016, renting a neighbour’s flat for a year put them in a strong position to move quickly.
After starting their search in Clerkenwell, budget constraints led them further out of London until they found a four-bedroom Victorian house in Dalston. ‘It was winter, the fire was on and it felt very homely,’ says Tom. ‘But I was particularly excited about the potential to open up the narrow galley kitchen into the lovely south facing garden.’ Luckily a deal was struck following best and final offers. ‘Another buyer tried to gazump us but the sellers were honourable enough to stick with us,’ says Tom.

Living there for two years before extending proved invaluable in shaping their plans and meant they could identify bugbears like a lack of storage and no guest toilet or utility on the ground floor. ‘We could’ve created a toilet by blocking off the entrance from the hall to the kitchen and just accessed the extension through the living room, but we wanted to keep the view of the garden from the front door,’ says Tom.
After meeting several architects, Neil Dusheiko impressed them most. ‘He was charismatic and happy for us to visit past projects,’ says Tom. ‘We particularly liked Neil’s father-in-law’s kitchen as it had the open-plan feel we wanted with a glass lean-to and a nice aspect onto the garden. The brick floor reminded me of my parents’ barn conversion in Suffolk.’

We’ve created a really comfortable, practical home that works. The kitchen is such a pleasant place to cook and wash up, and we love having lunch in the garden with the door open.

I initially considered putting together an ad hoc design with my previous builder, however I now realise the value of a good architect. ‘I’ve never worked with an architect before and I learned they are incredibly skilled and valuable people. They took the trouble to find out about us and how we use the space, so that was the biggest take home.

One of Tom’s bugbears was having to duck down when entering the kitchen from the hall. Increasing the height of the opening would’ve been costly as it’s a load bearing wall, so the hall stairs were recessed back slightly to accommodate a 400mm dip in the hallway floor level before you enter the kitchen.

Living there for two years before extending proved invaluable in shaping their plans and meant they could identify bugbears like a lack of storage and no guest toilet or utility on the ground floor. ‘We could’ve created a toilet by blocking off the entrance from the hall to the kitchen and just accessed the extension through the living room, but we wanted to keep the view of the garden from the front door,’ says Tom.
After meeting several architects, Neil Dusheiko impressed them most. ‘He was charismatic and happy for us to visit past projects,’ says Tom. ‘We particularly liked Neil’s father-in-law’s kitchen as it had the open-plan feel we wanted with a glass lean-to and a nice aspect onto the garden. The brick floor reminded me of my parents’ barn conversion in Suffolk.’

Working together, Neil and his project architect, Fabian Danker designed a multi-functional open plan kitchen diner which also acts as a snug and play space for their new baby as the trestle table can be easily packed away. ‘It has a better connection between the inside and outside, as well as providing more storage without compartmentalising the spaces,’ Fabian explains.