Arbour House
The client approached us to extend her small 1950's infill terraced house to create a more usable kitchen/dining area with better connection to the garden. The exisiting house had low ceilings and awkward living spaces. The brief was to create a bright and open living space with materials of quality and character.
Taking inspiraton fom the case study house of the 1950s as well as Japanese domestic architecture, nimtim proposed an addition formed of an exposed lightweight timber portals. The timber structure defines a series of openings along the roof and into the rear garden; blurring the thresholds between inside and out.
The design references the original Victorian property that previously existed on the site, stepping back in plan to echo the original closet wing, while allowing the garden to extend into the living space.
Internally materiality was key; materials had to be high quality, with a distinctive, honest timbre. The exposed timber portals frames are in sustainable Douglas Fir creating a warm, pink hue, the floor is poured concrete and an exposed wall of specially selected long bricks run along one edge of the living space extending out into the garden. A restrained palettte is maintained with a translucent white plywood kitchen and wooden and marble worktops. Every material quietly affirms itself independently and collectively.
Arbour House was shortlisted for the NLA, Don't Move, Improve! awards 2018.
