Exposed oak ceiling beams gently diffuse light within the living and dining spaces, delivering a warmth against the backdrop of concrete floors and structures.
From the outset, the heritage façade of a Victorian home conceals a modern addition designed to bolster the structure and optimise living spaces for a family in north London.
After enduring decades of neglect, compounded by historic bomb damage from World War II and tree-root subsidence, a Victorian home in Stoke Newington, London, has been meticulously restored under the guidance of architecture studio Bindloss Dawes. The property was originally bought as a development project by interior designer Emma Dahlman and her husband, Nick Illston, but it quickly became a long-term family residence.
Situated within the conservation district of Lordship Park with picturesque views of Clissold Park, great care was taken to preserve the home’s heritage features. A modern extension was added to the rear, allowing the dining and living rooms to open to the garden and outdoor entertaining space. “The original house has a wide south-facing garden, and when we first visited it was completely closed up, so we wanted to create the maximum transformation, opening the house to the garden with high ceilings and big expanses of glass,” explains Georg Dawes, architect and co-founder of Bindloss Dawes.
The kitchen features oak cabinetry designed by Reform paired with concrete countertops.
The dining room features a Hans J. Wegner CH327 dining table with CH36 chairs tucked under.
A cruciform reinforced concrete structure was inserted at the heart of the house to support the rear wall, serving as the backbone of the new extension.
Addressing the significant damage to the property called for a “transformative approach,” which Dawes states they needed “to insert a cruciform reinforced concrete structure at the heart of the house to support the rear wall, which serves as the backbone of the new extension.” To seamlessly integrate with the Victorian architecture, buffed and toned Wienerberger bricks were used for the exterior shell of the new addition. Meanwhile, the design dialogue was modernised inside by exposing monolithic concrete forms.
Drawing inspiration from the brutalist Sri Lankan tropics, mid-century Los Angeles homes, and Nordic palettes, Dahlman collaborated with the architects to layer her home with materials and textures, creating a generous, luminous, and relaxed spatial quality. The concrete walls and floors are softened with oak found in the exposed ceiling beams, which gently diffuses light within the space and delivers a sense of warmth. Timber furnishings continue to distribute an echoed warmth, ranging from the Reform kitchen cabinetry to the dining room. “The structure features raw, unfinished concrete, and there’s a beautiful balance between different timbers, fabrics, and textures, creating a space that’s both complex and calm”, Dahlman says.
Rendering the home with colour, the glazed apertures of the new addition provide vignettes of the verdant English garden. Continued throughout the bedrooms and bathrooms, the muted material palette ensures a cohesive transition between the home’s old and new spaces.
Through a bold and robust intervention, Lordship residence is granted a renewed life that now dynamically caters to the lifestyle of a modern family.
In the living room, a Hans J. Wegner CH22 lounge chair is positioned next to the Frama cabinetry.
Pictured: Hans J. Wegner CH22 lounge chair.
The bedrooms and bathrooms carry a muted material palette to ensure a cohesive transition between the old and the new spaces of the home.
Buffed and toned Wienerberger bricks are used for the exterior shell to integrate the new addition with the Victorian building.
The glazed apertures render the home with colour as they provide vignettes of the verdant English garden.
