Brendon Lodge is a 1980s house located in a suburban context on the periphery of Marlow, Buckinghamshire. The original house was mundane externally and internally and the brief was to introduce a series of contemporary, sustainable interventions that lifted the spirit of the house and provided more space for a family of 6.

This submission is for the first phase of the project, a rear extension which focuses on the use of light and space. We used higher quality materials than the existing such as Petersen bricks and FSC UK Douglas Fir structure.

The form of the roof was influenced by the need to create taller ceilings than the existing, transitioning from old to new without a step at the interface. It rises to a point on one side to give privacy from the neighbours and then drops on the other to reduce window size and solar gain. The result is a simple but elegant exposed structure, that hopefully lifts the spirit.

The brickwork is returned from the outside to the inside and the Douglas fir structure is reflected in the Douglas fir ply kitchen.  The lighting is simple and discrete shifting the focus to the timber form.

The next phase of the project will see the existing roof replaced, the existing brickwork painted and the front of the house extended in a similar style to the rear.