Unagru Architects Transformed a Traditional Terrace Into a Bright Home

Unagru Architects Transformed a Traditional Terrace Into a Bright Home

By
. .

The scheme has extended the original dwelling into the basement, side, rear, and property’s roof. This extra space has made it possible to rethink the historic circulation, preferring a more fluid layout to achieve an exciting experience of movement through the building. The team clad side and rear extensions in dark stained marine plywood, with stained hardwood window and door frames. Below ground level, walls, paving, and stairs are all clad in stacked black bricks.

wild extension Unagru Architects Transformed a Traditional Terrace Into a Bright Home inside out garden Unagru Architects Transformed a Traditional Terrace Into a Bright Home soft light and dark wood Unagru Architects Transformed a Traditional Terrace Into a Bright Home view towards the front sitting room Unagru Architects Transformed a Traditional Terrace Into a Bright Home

The basement and ground floor are interconnected open-plan spaces designed to be related to the garden. Sliding doors, changes in levels, and slatted screens have replaced partitions, doors, and corridors to provide a fluid space with varying degrees of separation and privacy. Long convex joinery walls model the area at both levels, incorporating the services areas, storage, and kitchen units. A curling steel stair, encased in a slatted wooden box, gives access to the basement. The stair is enclosed into a loose wooden box that resembles an atrium, illuminated from above, and floating over a large fish tank installed in the basement. The stair and box are located in the middle of the ground floor, serving as a direct connection between the two levels and a light source in the layout’s darkest area. The wooden box acts as a perforated screen between the front sitting room and the open plan kitchen and dining area at the rear.

a curling steel stair Unagru Architects Transformed a Traditional Terrace Into a Bright Home view of the wooden box connecting to the basement Unagru Architects Transformed a Traditional Terrace Into a Bright Home slatted box Unagru Architects Transformed a Traditional Terrace Into a Bright Home interior light well Unagru Architects Transformed a Traditional Terrace Into a Bright Home

The circulation to the top floor covers many levels, with landings at every change of direction. The path extends on the ground floor and basement through an exterior stair that connects to the garden and back into the ground floor.

entrance to the sitting room Unagru Architects Transformed a Traditional Terrace Into a Bright Home detail of the bespoke joinery Unagru Architects Transformed a Traditional Terrace Into a Bright Home first floor landing Unagru Architects Transformed a Traditional Terrace Into a Bright Home colourful bedrooms Unagru Architects Transformed a Traditional Terrace Into a Bright Home stair to the garden Unagru Architects Transformed a Traditional Terrace Into a Bright Home

The project’s original concept was to create the connection between the building to the sky through the three new volumes. The first triple-height volume contains the entrance, stairs, and landings on the top floors and is punctured by windows on both sides of the house. A second volume is a literal box that encases the stair to the basement, composed of slatted wooden screens covered by a frosted glass roof. The rear extension also takes the form of a top-lit wooden box, attracting every possible ray of light inside while remaining consistent with the project’s architectural language. Each of these areas functions as an internal greenhouse, enhancing the tranquillity of the home with natural greenery.

Project by Unagru

Photography by Ståle Eriksen