1957 London House Grows for a Modern Family
A ground-floor addition puts a useful bathroom-utility area between a new L-shaped kitchen and the living room
The addition is almost 10 feet deep. “The greatest challenge was keeping the flow of the space while inserting the new utility area,” Townshend says.
The kitchen, already at the rear of the house, was moved farther back into the addition to allow the bathroom-utility area to go between the living room and the kitchen. The result is an L-shaped kitchen with a dining table at the center.
“We ended up choosing this layout because it was the best way of maximizing the connection between indoor and outdoor spaces,” Townshend says. “The layout also pushes the kitchen preparation to the sides, allowing activities such as children’s play and dining to happen freely. Not only that, but the [bathroom]-utility space takes up the central area of the ground floor, so the noise and visual clutter of the laundry is now hidden.”
“We ended up choosing this layout because it was the best way of maximizing the connection between indoor and outdoor spaces,” Townshend says. “The layout also pushes the kitchen preparation to the sides, allowing activities such as children’s play and dining to happen freely. Not only that, but the [bathroom]-utility space takes up the central area of the ground floor, so the noise and visual clutter of the laundry is now hidden.”
Durable and easy to keep clean, the gray laminate doors on the kitchen cabinets complement a granite countertop and a backsplash of Prussian-blue subway tile.
The space is flooded with natural light, thanks to the sizable roof light. “We simply treated the ceiling as an element in itself,” Townshend says. “The roof light is centered between obvious structural elements, allowing enough space around its perimeter to comfortably fit enough recessed spotlights to create generous task lighting for the evenings and dark months.”
Subway tile: Topps Tiles
The space is flooded with natural light, thanks to the sizable roof light. “We simply treated the ceiling as an element in itself,” Townshend says. “The roof light is centered between obvious structural elements, allowing enough space around its perimeter to comfortably fit enough recessed spotlights to create generous task lighting for the evenings and dark months.”
Subway tile: Topps Tiles
The addition offers great views of the garden. “We often recommend sliding doors over bifolds, as we remind our customers that most of the time the doors will be closed, and that you need to like the look of them closed and not be overly influenced by how they look when open — which probably won’t be as often as you would hope!” Townshend says. “Also, stacked folded doors need to be accommodated, while sliding versions are more in keeping with this era of housing.”
An eclectic mix of dining chairs and framed artworks creates a personal and homey ambiance.
“The flooring is a medium-wide-format, oak-engineered board,” Townshend says.
“The flooring is a medium-wide-format, oak-engineered board,” Townshend says.
A happy marriage of vintage treasures, such as the antique armoire, and contemporary features, including the flat-front cabinets, work well in the new space.
A neat understairs office (seen here to the right of the armoire) utilizes every inch of space.
8 Clever Ideas for the Space Under the Stairs
A neat understairs office (seen here to the right of the armoire) utilizes every inch of space.
8 Clever Ideas for the Space Under the Stairs
The addition’s sliding doors lead to the garden.
Retro-style furniture in earthy shades in the front living space sets the tone for the rest of the ground floor.
The bathroom-utility area is sandwiched between this space and the kitchen at the back.
The bathroom-utility area is sandwiched between this space and the kitchen at the back.
Here’s the front of the original 1957 Span house, part of The Keep postwar housing development, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.
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See the award-winning landscape for a Span development outside London
Read other stories about additions
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See the award-winning landscape for a Span development outside London
Read other stories about additions
Addition at a Glance
Who lives here: A professional couple and their two young children
Location: Blackheath, London
Architect: Jo Townshend of Jo Townshend Architects
Architect Jo Townshend was perhaps the perfect choice for overhauling the downstairs of this 1957 Span house. In the 1950s and ’60s, the British company Span built about 2,000 houses in small developments to span the gap between what architect Eric Lyons saw as uninspiring suburban home developments and architecturally designed individual homes. The goal with each house was to create an affordable, well-designed home in a landscape setting that fostered a village atmosphere.
Not only does Townshend admire the architecture of Span developments, but she also lives in a Span house. “I love the open-plan living arrangements and the walls of glass and the relationship of the houses to their surrounding landscape,” she says. Townshend also loves the asymmetrical elevations of the dwellings and the playful use of materials, plus the sense of community that these housing developments nurture.
Any downsides? “Span houses were designed for the needs of the families in the 1950s,” she says, “so they are beautiful but very small.”
Although it had great proportions and lots of natural light, this home needed enlarging to accommodate the family’s busy lifestyle. “These Span houses were built with three bedrooms and one bathroom,” Townshend says. “My company got involved with the refurbishment of the ground floor, which included a kitchen extension and fitting in a downstairs [bathroom]-utility area. For a growing family, this has become a great benefit while being hidden acoustically and aesthetically into the new scheme.”