The client required a 'jewel-like' extension to provide a study with a strong connection to the garden that, out of concern for privacy, would not draw attention to itself from the opposite side of the canal. The aim was to de-materialise the extension against the existing white stucco elevation of the house while also retaining a strong internal presence.
Instead of contrasting with the existing architecture, the carefully chosen materials make the extension nearly invisible when viewed from afar. The interior walls, floor, ceiling and furniture are formed from a white, seamless Corian. Entering from the kitchen, the floor becomes the extension's built-in seating. The whole space has been pushed into the ground so that the desk is at the same level as the garden—partly to reduce the impact of the studio on the garden and to make the inhabitants less visible from the canal, but also to celebrate looking out through the low-level planting and grass.
St Mark's Crescent "White on White" won a 2015 RIBA London Award(details).