Dove and Tse

Projects / 10

Terrace Renewal

A Victorian terrace house repaired at the front, opened up at the back, and given a room in the roof.

Location
London
Type
Whole-house renovation
Fig. 01The dormer and glass box from the garden.

The place

A tired Victorian terrace house in a conservation area: original sashes rotting, the front garden paved over, a dark loft and a kitchen that turned its back on the garden.

The brief

Restore the street front properly, add a bedroom and shower room in the loft, and bring light and garden into the kitchen without a large extension.

The design

At the front the work is repair: new timber sashes to the original pattern, the bay restored, the tiled path and railings reinstated and the front garden replanted with lavender. At the back a zinc dormer sits within the roof slope and turns the loft into a bedroom looking over the gardens. A small frameless glass box in the side return gives the kitchen a sunlit table and a door to a brick terrace; a brick path runs the length of the replanted garden.

Repair at the front, light at the back, a room in the roof.

Fig. 02Long section through house, loft and glass box.

The street front

Sashes, bay, path and railings repaired to the original pattern.

Fig. 03The restored street front.

Models

Card massing models: the dormer and the glass box.

Fig. 04Massing model (rendered).
Fig. 05Model detail: the dormer (rendered).

Drawings

Plans, elevations and details

Each plan sits beside a view of the spaces it shows; the drawing set follows, from the exploded axonometric to a 1:20 detail.

Fig. 06Ground floor plan (proposed).
Fig. 07The glass box in the side return.
Fig. 08Loft plan (proposed).
Fig. 09From the bench, back up the path to the glass box and the zinc dormer.
Fig. 10Axonometric from the garden.
Fig. 11Street elevation.
Fig. 12Garden elevation.

Landscape

The garden, room by room

Front and back are both replanted: lavender and clipped box behind the restored railings, and at the back a brick path running the length of the garden between lawn and borders to a bench under the tree.

  1. 01

    Front garden

    Lavender and box behind the railings.

  2. 02

    Terrace

    Brick by the glass box.

  3. 03

    Path

    Brick, the length of the garden.

  4. 04

    Bench

    Oak, under the multi-stem tree.

Fig. 13Site and landscape plan.

Planting palette

  • Lavandula angustifolia 'Hidcote'Front garden
  • Buxus sempervirensClipped domes
  • Amelanchier lamarckiiMulti-stem tree kept and underplanted
  • Hakonechloa macraBorders

Materials

  • London stock brickRepaired and repointed in lime
  • Painted timber sashesFront and rear
  • Standing-seam zincRear dormer
  • Frameless glassSide-return box
  • TerrazzoKitchen and glass-box floor
Fig. 14Material samples.

Project

Project data

Location
London
Type
Whole-house renovation + loft
Added area
c. 22 m²
Architectural design
Dove + Tse
Landscape
Dove + Tse
Structural engineer
TBC
Conservation
TBC