Elderfield Road, Homerton, London

Elderfield Road, Homerton, London

A couple who had moved into their new house with their two children were looking to converting it into a property that is more open to the garden, and provides as much as possible habitable space. They wanted to explore the possibility of optimising utility and sanitary area.

The house was already organised in the way they wanted it to be with the kitchen and dining in the basement but the two uses were not well connected and access to the garden was only possible through the kitchen in which the head height was rather low. Besides, they were keen to have a lounge area combined with the dining. Opening up the basement floor plan and adding a side return extension with a wide opening solved the spatial requests. The biggest challenges were a shallow sewer that was just below the thin, existing floor slab and protruding foundations under each of the basement walls. To create a living area at garden level that stretches from front to back within budget and part of the floor was kept on a higher level and a step was introduced as well as some of the existing foundation had to be maintained and concealed with furniture. The bathroom on the first floor was optimised white it was refurbished to achieve a viable bedroom and a new toilet was added under the stairs.