The London stock brickwork terrace is in Tufnell Park Conservation Area, and this house had the unusual feature of a party wall buttress at the back. The scheme expanded the lower ground floor by building over the side yard, creating a new kitchen/ family room, and opening up the living rooms of the house to the garden. This was achieved in the place-making presence of a venerable umbrella apple tree which gives shade to the garden terrace and is now integrated into the new intimate threshold between inside and outside.

The long internal side wall made in reclaimed stock bricks, top lit by a generous rooflight, is continuous in colour and texture with the external walls of this and neighbouring houses. A full width sliding glazed screen, framed in oak matches the new hardwood floor of the back room. With these simple but clearly expressed means we have made a strong and seamless connection between old and new, and created a relaxed setting for contemporary family life.