'Yellow Steel House'
Windmill Road, London, TW12
Project
Bold yellow steels, over-sailing timber rafters and plywood enclosures form warm and playful spaces in this exposed structure extension to the home of the practice’s founder in Hampton Hill.
Along with the steels, sized to allow future attic expansion, large sections of roof glass help delineate the wrap around kitchen/dining extension from the original kitchen outrigger and utility forms, whilst letting in plenty of natural light.
The rafters, which use steel apex plates to do away with the need for a ridge beam, all land on the exposed brick wall differently as it tapers into the site. This meant that each one had to be sized and cut individually and left challenges with wall plate connections, solved with close collaboration on site.
Behind birch plywood infill panels, white-oiled along with the rafters, a first layer of wood fibre insulation enables the roof to regulate internal moisture levels. Above the structural deck a VCL with humidity variable diffusion and rigid interlocking wood fibre sarking boards form a warm, active and healthy roof.
This project also sees the transformation of the rest of the ground floor, first floor and garden, which has been opened up into the extension with the use of the large format, thin framed doors and windows.
In the centre of the house plywood enclosures form a wc, utility cupboard and hallway storage, whilst the staircase has been re-dressed with full height plywood spindles with the original treads and risers kept and painted yellow to match the steels.
Plywood has also been used to form a ‘house’ cut out in the play room storage wall and help tie in the black/green wall colour between the living and kitchen spaces.
Our Services
Survey / Concept Design / Planning / Detailed Design / Tendering / Contract Administration / Joinery Design / Interior Design
2017 - 2018
Project Complete
Structural Engineer
J Friis Consulting Structural Engineers
Contractor
Decor House Construction
Photography
Will Scott & George Woodrow
'a cheery and contemporary feel'
'a shot of brilliant yellow'
'There's something effervescently uplifting about the interiors of the home extension of the founder of Woodrow Architects’ Hampton Hill Home.
The exposed structural beams, in energetic yellow, play off textures of timber, plywood and off-white internal brick to create a space that not only feels warm, but joyful too. '
