South London family home transformed by Brockley architects
A South London family home has been reimagined into a light-filled, plywood-clad domestic haven by Gruff Architects
![Evelyn St](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/FMstSjVwBx2pPfcTb5t4gZ-415-80.jpg)
Embarking on a journey to reinvent their home in a way that feels functional and tailored to their needs, a family of five reached out to Brockley-based based studio Gruff Architects for help. The practice obliged, delivering a South London family home that not only offers an imaginative refresh of the existing property, but also is entirely fit for purpose for the clients' way of life.
Run by two directors, Emily Burnett and Rhys Cannon, Gruff are no strangers to residential design and home improvements. Their recent work includes a daring, new built, single family house in Brockley and a patterned Dulwich Conservation Area domestic extension. With this project, situated in a Victorian townhouse in Deptford, the team worked with the context and the client's brief to produce a design that feels both contemporary and at home in its historical context.
The client's main request focused on the everyday living areas – the kitchen, dining and family rooms – which they wanted to transform into more open, connected spaces so they could eat, sit and relax together. The architects' response was to create a rear extension clad in tactile, white brick. This unified the exterior (framed by dark metal balustrades), added square footage inside, and offered new, direct links between the house and outdoors spaces – both a terrace and the nearby park. An open plan, flowing arrangement inside makes the different areas feel intrinsically connected.
Internally, plywood cladding and bespoke, built in storage enhances this unity, wrapping the South London family home in a single, warm, functional envelope. Chosen for its sustainability credentials, plywood became a key part of the new design's identity. Meanwhile, a custom-made, playful terrazzo kitchen table adds a fun accent, while large openings bring plenty of natural light in.
‘This project offered a unique opportunity to create a home that can really take advantage of being adjacent to the park. We wanted to create an interior that promoted calmness and connection to the outside whilst being a series of spaces that work for every moment and member of the family, parents, kids and pets in combination,' says Burnett. ‘The values that are inherent in all our projects are particularly salient in this work and has, over the last year in particular, brought so much advantage to the day-to-day of the family living and working every day in the home.'
INFORMATION
gruffarchitects.com
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
Tour the Natural History Museum’s new gardens, a Jurassic lark in London
The Natural History Museum in London has unveiled two new gardens, with resident dinosaurs, after a transformation led by architects Feilden Fowles
By Bridget Downing Published
-
Drama Republic moves into a colourful, handcrafted workspace in London
For the new creative HQ of production company Drama Republic, Emil Eve Architects remodels a warehouse into office space in London’s Holborn
By Léa Teuscher Published
-
Hideaway House in London features timber panelling inspired by the New York hospitality scene
The elegantly refurbished Hideaway House by Studio McW in London features timber panelling inspired by Philip Johnson’s The Four Seasons Restaurant
By Léa Teuscher Published
-
An Uxbridge annexe by Bureau de Change is a design for effortless intergenerational living
Uxbridge Bower, a residential annexe in west London, is a contemporary addition offering both privacy and connection for the needs of a family
By Tianna Williams Published
-
‘Modern Buildings’ tours south-east London through a guide to post-war Blackheath and Greenwich
‘Modern Buildings: Blackheath and Greenwich’ is a detailed survey of a London borough’s rich trove of new modernist architecture
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Triangle House invites you to its inner world of colourful surprises
Triangle House by Artefact is a private home in Epsom, outside London, combining Caribbean style, colour and functionality
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Tour the refreshed Saint Andrew Holborn: an icon reveals its crisp new interior in London
DaeWha Kang reimagines Saint Andrew Holborn church through a sensitive architectural solution that blends tradition and modernity in London
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
A Suffolk house by Studio Bark pairs a fresh visual language with low-energy design
Suffolk house Water Farm is off-the-grid but defiantly on the map, a bold new object in the landscape with a strong visual impact and minimal carbon footprint
By Jonathan Bell Published