A refreshed Fulham house balances its history with a series of 21st-century interventions
A Fulham house project by Bureau de Change creates a 21st-century domestic haven through a series of contemporary interventions and a deep connection to the property's historical fabric

A Fulham house has been completely rethought through an extension and detailed renovation by Shoreditch-based architecture studio Bureau de Change. The project, set in leafy West London, has been carefully sculpted – both physically and symbolically – to create a spatial experience that both improves the owners' life and the routes through their home and its connection to the outdoors – namely the property's green, rear garden.
Discover this Fulham house by Bureau de Change
A textured, sculptural rear addition and the way it flows into the verdant outdoors through extensive glazing sit at the heart of the residential reimagining. The extension was designed using a series of pre-fabricated moulding details which were found 'in a historical joinery catalogue from a local craftsman that operated in the area during the Victorian times,' the architects explain. This not only brings the home to the 21st century but also links it back to the region's history and rich craftsmanship.
What would have typically been period, three-dimensional mouldings have now been re-interpreted using brick. 'The pattern that emerged by rotating or mirroring the bricks created a sense of movement and texture visible from every angle,' says studio co-founder Katerina Dionysopoulou, who leads the practice with business partner and co-founder Billy Mavropoulos. This tactile skin defines the home's materiality and creates a dialogue with the richly planted garden beyond.
Meanwhile, inside, the interior has been refreshed, using colour to define specific paths within. A dark blue entrance, illuminated with a dramatic double-height void above, cutting through the upper level, leads to a lighter, desaturated kitchen. Bespoke stone surfaces and a central island underline the room's spatial generosity. An even lighter dining area off the main kitchen space completes the trajectory towards the sunlight and the outdoors.
Mavropoulos explains: 'We wanted to complement the original ornate features of the house with sculptural and material surprises in each space. The hard lines and metallic finish of the central volume that binds the living spaces together are softened by the surrounding Victorian ceilings enrichments, warm flooring materials and subtle reflections of the garden.'
Alongside these modern interventions, historic elements have been carefully restored - from the Victorian tiling and stained glass windows to elaborate ceiling mouldings and timber floor boards throughout; making this a truly contemporary residential refresh.
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
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).
-
Takashi Murakami’s flower-adorned footwear brand Ohana Hatake has arrived in London
The Japanese artist’s colourful sliders appear as part of a summer pop-up at The Corner Shop, Selfridges, which opens today (4 August 2025)
-
This is rubbish: how Potato Head and Max Lamb turned trash into a design brand
Wasted is a new design brand by Potato Head, with a series of objects designed by Max Lamb made entirely from the hotel and beach club’s waste streams
-
Slide into blissful EV anonymity with the Vauxhall Grandland Electric GS
As Vauxhall gears up to launch a performance sub-brand, we chronicle the rather more modest achievements of its mid-priced, middle market Grandland SUV
-
The Monthly Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s favourite July houses
From geometric Japanese cottages to restored modernist masterpieces, these are the best residential projects to have crossed the architecture desk this month
-
Visiting an experimental UK home: welcome to Housestead
This experimental UK home, Housestead by Sanei + Hopkins, brings together architectural explorations and daily life in these architects’ own home
-
A house in Leamington Spa is a domestic oasis infused with contemporary sensibilities
This house in Leamington Spa, by John Pardey Architects, brings together flood risk considerations, a conservation area's historic character, and contemporary sensibilities
-
A garden explaining carbon capture in nature? Head to Kew in London
Kew unveils 'Carbon Garden', a new offering at London's Royal Botanic Gardens that's all about carbon capture within nature; and how plants and soil can be leveraged to help us battle climate change
-
An old war barracks is transformed into a charming Dorset Beach House
Nestled in its coastal setting, a redesigned barracks home in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty becomes a contemporary Dorset beach house by Architecture for London
-
Studio Bark has transformed a Victorian villa into an eco-friendly family home
A Victorian villa in the South of England has been overhauled with new low-energy systems and a self-build addition to create a home fit for the future
-
The inimitable Norman Foster: our guide to the visionary architect, shaping the future
Norman Foster has shaped today's London and global architecture like no other in his field; explore his work through our ultimate guide to this most impactful contemporary architect
-
Shard Place offers residents the chance to live in the shadow of London’s tallest building
The 27-storey tower from Renzo Piano Building Workshop joins The Shard and The News Building to complete Shard Quarter, providing a sophisticated setting for renters