“It has been built on to, and every new bit was worse than what was there before”, said practice founder Peter Ungar. “It’s covered in an encrustation of UPVC windows and it’s pretty horrible. So we went back to the beginning.” Despite this, the plans were restricted by the location in London’s green belt and a pub garden that cuts into the site.
An earlier planning application by another practice for an extension was rejected by planners concerned about the size of the building’s footprint.
Ungar has dealt with the restrictions by creating a narrower footprint for the new house while increasing its size by 25%. A courtyard space at the rear of the building compensates for the lack of views at ground-floor level due to the pub garden with timber louvers obscuring views into the building. The design was partially inspired by other modern buildings in the area, although finding a local architectural vernacular proved to be a challenge.
“You’ve got a Jehovah’s Witness industrial shed on one side, a Victorian pub on the other, a 1930s medical laboratory on the other side of the road and gothic Victorian villas in the surrounding area. So it was a bit difficult to define a context or an architectural interpretation,” said Ungar.
A start date for the project has yet to be agreed.
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