Formed as part of the Jesus Green Estate in 1862, Baxendale Street belongs to a near perfectly homogenous neighbourhood of Victorian terrace houses. Beyond this uniformity the proposal re-models the terrace including an entrance vestibule, lower ground floor and subtraction of spaces to form a play of volumes.
The existing direct relationship to the street is tempered by the inclusion of a screened vestibule to provide a transition into and from the house. The front two-storey portion of the terrace is maintained in its existing arrangement with exposed chimneybreast-toothed walls and butterfly roof. The living spaces are split between the ground floor and a new partially submerged lower ground with eye level views into the sunken garden.
Subtractions are made from floors in the rear portion of the terrace to create connections between the basement and ground, ground and first floors. This plasticity of space is highlighted by exposing a new steel frame and revealing relationships between informal spaces that defy the simple, historic construction.
Pitched roofs cover the ground floor rear projections to the house and are placed out of phase against the rhythm of the existing butterfly roofs.
Baxendale Street // Location: Jesus Green, London Client: Private