Islington, London
2009
The traditional Victorian London terrace house was arranged with the kitchen in the basement, accessed by a reversed narrow stair and cut off from the main living accommodation on the raised ground floor. To connect the basement kitchen and dining room with the ground-floor reception room, the existing main staircase is extended down to basement level and a double-height void space created at the rear. A frameless pivoting glass window creates views from the reception room to the Tom Stuart-Smith-designed garden, as well as bringing natural light into the kitchen and dining room below. The new window allows the house to be opened up to the garden and the living space extended in the summer months.