When this young family were blessed by the joy of soon having a new baby, they realised that they needed more space. Their house had out-earned them, as most London houses do, and as a result their options for finding a larger house whilst staying in the area was not financially attractive.
Project Name -Casa del Sol
Studio Name -Sophie Nguyen Architects
Completion date– 2016
Building Level – 3
Location– Greater London, England, United Kingdom
Photography– Ruth Ward
They selected Sophie Nguyen Architects after interviewing several firms, because her work demonstrated a quest for simplicity and clean lines, and because she had a keen interest for transforming spaces into stunning living places.
Sophie’s concept enabled the owners to create a fourth bedroom in the house, and to add two new bathrooms. The particular focus of the project was the extension of the lower ground floor kitchen space into the side alley, and the transformation of the garden.
The conversion of Casa del Sol’s ground floor sets out to define the internal space in terms of its functions, rather than simply increase it. The concept is to introduce the kitchen as a single standalone element that is placed in the newly annexed side alley. This element maintains its distance from the living space through the glazed gap to the wall of the house – the project is vertical rather than horizontal, and this is what brings the clarity to the resulting volume.
This conversion, and the garden that adjoins it, have been conceived to maximise the light that streams into the house. A sun trap has been created in the middle of Herne Hill – the Casa del Sol.
The client’s comments on completion:
“We commissioned Sophie Nguyen Architects to undertake our home transformation from design right through to build completion. And we could not have made a better decision!
We are now back in our home and LOVING it! Our kitchen has been transformed from a small, dark and cold room to a warm, light, airy, practical family kitchen/dining room. We could not be happier and there is not a single day where we don’t think, “oh wow the light and space here is amazing!” “
