Hillside House reimagines a post-war family home. A wall of joinery conceals a door back to the rest of the house and gives the feeling that the new extension is an escape, marking the point where the traditional terraced house becomes an urban oasis

Hillside House was originally granted planning permission in 2019, but the clients subsequently abandoned the scheme and made plans to move to St Leonards. In late 2021, the clients had sold their post-war house in Walthamstow and bought a new home by the sea. However, at the last minute, they pulled out of the sale and purchase, and decided to stay in London and improve their home, which had great potential but wasn’t conducive to modern family life. 

The client had moved to the property from a three-storey flat. The layout of the house represented something more akin to family life, but they found the small separate kitchen meant there was no space to prepare food and spend time together. In the new space, the clients are watching as their daughter is growing into the space: she uses the raised living space as a stage, while mum and dad watch from the window seats, she leaps off the various platforms and does cartwheels around the space. Hidden in the wall of joinery is a toy cupboard where the chaos of family life can be closed away. A large utility room continues off the kitchen, operating as a separate kitchen to hide the mess of food preparation, while the main kitchen is a serene place to sit together. The existing fireplace was clad in terrazzo from Granby Workshop. While the original brief called for a wood-burning stove, this was not implemented due to environmental concerns. Nonetheless the feature still acts as a hearth and focus point for the home.

One of the clients is a children’s book illustrator, and his work is notable for its use of colour. The simple, robust material palette was selected in collaboration with the client and it was their unique eye that we think brings the design together materially and texturally. It becomes a cohesive work against the artwork and objects they have completed it with. The wooden parquet flooring was reclaimed via Parquet Parquet from a school in Stoke-on-Trent, and the kitchen island is covered in plastic panels reformed from melted down chocolate box moulds, made by Plasticiet.