Minimalist Residential Extension Features Bursts of Colour

Project of the Week

This week’s instalment of the #SBIDinspire interior design series features a light and airy residential design. This large and comfortable house had already been extended 10 years earlier, but this was demolished to provide an even larger replacement, featuring a study area, extra living space and a small service kitchen hidden behind a full-height sliding door.

In keeping with the calm and minimal tone requested by the client, SBID Accredited Design Practise, Richard Dewhurst Interior Architecture chose a muted colour palette was used throughout the house. The odd burst of colour was, however, tactfully used in the smaller spaces of the house, such as the bathroom and study.

Practice: Richard Dewhurst Interior Architecture

Project: Balham House Extension

Location: Balham, United Kingdom

What was the client’s brief? 

The brief was to design a light and airy rear extension that didn’t simply feel like a white box grafted onto the back of the house and that was both calming and minimal. She also wanted a very impressive and modern kitchen, but one that was easy to use and could hide the mess as she readily admitted that cooking wasn’t really her thing!

In general, my client had quite a conservative approach to the project, but thankfully she was very happy for me to get creative with the guest loo, which proved to be fun.

What inspired the interior design of the project? 

The main driving factor behind this design was my enthusiasm for clerestory windows and the calmness and clarity of light they bring to a space. Having seen plenty of them in other buildings, I was excited to finally get the opportunity to build one.

What was the toughest hurdle your team overcame during the project?

The clerestory window feature was more complex to design and detail than I’d originally thought, meaning that I had to work closely with the window manufacturer and structural engineer to ensure that it functioned well and looked good.

Also, I desperately tried to convince my client that she should replace her sixty-foot long fake grass lawn with the real thing, as I’m getting increasingly frustrated and upset by the environmental damage this stuff causes to the local ecology, especially when considering the role city back gardens play in creating wildlife corridors in urban areas. Unfortunately, this was a battle I couldn’t win.

What was your highlight of the project?

I was so pleased that my client loved the clerestory window and the guest loo as it always surprises her guests; they simply don’t expect to see the stretch ceiling and seamless walls!

Questions answered by Richard Dewhurst, founder, Richard Dewhurst Interior Architecture.

We hope you feel inspired by this week’s residential design! Let us know what inspired you #SBIDinspire

If you missed last week’s Project of the Week, featuring a unique facility designed to surpass all expectations of a traditional care home, click here to see more.