32 Monkton Street

Client: Volvox (MS) Location: London, UK Project Status: Completed 2021 Area: 406 sqm Contractor: Project One London PM / QS: Potter Raper Structural Engineer: MHA Structural Design MEP Engineer: Watts Consultancy Photography: Peter Landers

Fourfoursixsix were appointed to design this sensitive retrofit and extension to a Victorian warehouse in Lambeth’s Walcot Conservation Area.

The two-storey building was refined and extended with a third storey in matching reclaimed London stock brick (salvaged from a nearby warehouse of the same era), with a new energy-efficient tapered flat roof. The existing brick joints were raked back, then the entire wall was pointed as one with lime mortar, before a soot wash was applied to blend old and new. The result is a more cohesive, balanced composition on the street. The existing apertures were retained and adjusted to suit the new internal uses, and the 1st floor was raised to better align with the windows.

An earlier single storey extension to the rear was removed to provide a courtyard garden and home office for the ground floor apartment, with large pairs of Crittall doors providing generous amounts of daylight and sunlight into the 3.4m high living spaces, creating a totally unique, private and tranquil home. Two apartments are provided at first floor level, with a fourth apartment and roof terrace on second floor level.

The project was shortlisted in the Housing category for the AJ Retrofit Awards 2022.