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Bearstead Rise, Gruff Gruff Modern garage/shed
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Bearstead Rise, Gruff Gruff Modern garage/shed

Recurring joinery detailing and a harmonious material palette link all levels of this stylish south-east London family home.

In its former configuration this 2-storey 1930s property was typical of its type, with a layout easily adaptable to modern family living.

In need of refurbishment but with both a loft conversion and outbuilding already in-situ, it was the obvious potential that first attracted the client and his partner to the property.

The clients initial brief was effectively to rip out the ground floor. To eradicate the awkward room arrangements and create an open plan ground floor for living, dining and cooking. To reconfigure the rear elevation to provide a connection with the previously disconnected garden. And enhance the link to a new home office space within the disused outbuilding – complete with a solar panelled roof which feeds a smart battery installed and utilised within the main house. To the upper levels, the first floor would be used for the client’s children and the second floor loft conversion would accommodate a master bedroom with ensuite bathroom.

Neutral materials and colours were purposefully chosen throughout to form the fabric of the building, such as cork floor tiles, engineered timber floor boards and birch ply joinery, providing neutrality but warmth to the internal spaces.  Concrete floor tiles, zinc yellow kitchen door fronts and an anthracite grey staircase, emphasise key elements. This consistent palette links both different levels and different functions of the house, creating connecting ribbons and visual references.

A new storage staircase was installed at ground level, with shadow gap detailing and a recessed handrail.

Replacement guarding and balustrades to the upper levels continues this modern architectural language. Where existing structure needed to remain, the junction of new to old was deliberately expressed though a series of shadow gaps and junctions. Each element was then sanded and painted to provide a universal finish. 

A modest but exuberant kitchen was installed within the rear extension, providing ample remaining space for living and dining. A floor-to-ceiling modular and adjustable birch plywood storage wall and window seat is the main feature of this area, allowing the couple to display much loved books, photos and memorabilia, whilst also acting as a hub for home entertainment and relaxation. This feature is also repeated at the upper levels, with the same language and material being used for bespoke storage and seating to all bedrooms.

To the rear of the property, new glazed pocket and bifold doors open up the ground level to a newly landscaped garden, with decked terraced seating, steps and planters. A linear concrete pathway extends  from the front entrance, through the living, dining and kitchen areas and continues into the garden, forming a material ribbon down to the clients’ new home office, workshop and gadget station.

Credits: French + Tye
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