surrey 112

To its front street address, the building now presents as an elegant mid-19^th century Victorian terrace, with minimal intervention besides high efficiency glazing, corrugated zinc roofing, and the reinstatement of ornate original details. This lightness of touch belies the substantial rework that has not only revitalised the building but elevated it in its entirety into a contemporary condition.

The four-storey addition at the rear of the main house is wrapped in off-white bricks in a woven English Bond pattern, harmonious in palette and scale to the rendered Italianate terrace. The large, articulated volume at the lower ground level draws light into the house. Within this rear addition, referencing the spatial arrangement of the Victorian terrace, is a sequence of contemporary spaces staged vertically between existing brick walls. The insertion of four siloes in a quatrefoil arrangement creates an unexpected addition that celebrates the site peculiarities, matching the scale and proportion of its rear wing.

The newly introduced architectural elements act as framing devices, protective walls and recurring sculptural motifs. At times the forms peel away to diffuse natural light, suggesting movement, and generating voids to conceal lighting, structure and services. At other times they become rendered backdrops for bedrooms and a helical spiral staircase.

The building’s quatrefoil motif breaks away from the conventional. At the rear of the terrace is a dramatic double height form with light, invited from concealed windows, bouncing off curved and rendered walls. This pattern of intersecting circles extends into the landscape as a stepped terrace encompassed by monolithic brick walls on each side. These moves create a vast outdoor room with light filtered through an arcade of deciduous trees.

Creating the backdrop to this outdoor room is a studio and garage extension that address the scale of the rear lane.  The quatrefoil motif is rediscovered within this studio as projecting volumes, like a periscope which conceals a skylight, lit up lantern-like at dusk. Externally, these projecting forms are clad in a custom radii brick that form the edge of a Terrazzo lined stair, drawing occupants up to the studio and down to the garage, and rear lane.

Curved brickwork is elevated in the rear lane facade. A sweeping brick wall hangs weightlessly, suspended over a generous double car garage. Bluestone cladding, black painted walls and tightly fritted glass tie the building back into its streetscape. Subdued on approach and departure.