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Project Details:

Location: London, United Kingdom

Architect: Unknown Works / @unknown.works

Interior Designer: Unknown Works / @unknown.works

Contractor: TBS Tutka Limited

Structural Engineer: Martin Redston Associates

Joinery: Puck London

Furniture: Twentytwentyone

From the Architect: “London creative studio Unknown Works has bookended a semi-detached, brick infill terrace house with striking yellow extensions to the front and rear. Balancing a tight budget and brief, the clients tasked Unknown Works with adding space for their young family’s creative pursuits, ensuring the layout could be adapted for hosting parties and intimate family gatherings.

“Unknown Works chose to use cross-laminated timber (CLT) as a flexible, cost-effective, sustainable building technology. The studio designed a kit of prefabricated structural panels in spruce CLT which were assembled on-site in just four days. The CLT panels have been insulated, coated in textural render, and painted a bold banana yellow to form a stepped rear extension and cubic front porch. The yellow additions are tempered by gently rounded edges to bring a softness to their overall form, and stainless steel rain chains—a traditional Japanese guttering option—negate any visual clutter caused by downpipes.

“Inside, the CLT panels are left exposed, creating a warm interior complemented by stainless steel and white-tinted polished concrete. The rear extension is home to a new open-plan kitchen and dining space with built-in CLT seating and reading nooks. Overhead, the structural CLT grid is left exposed, creating the opportunity for long recessed bespoke aluminum lighting tracks. Skylights are inset into the CLT structure, bringing daylight from above, paired with large sliding doors which frame views of the garden and courtyard.

“Intrigued by the idea of using one core material and stretching its applications, Unknown Works designed and handcrafted dimmer switches for their clients, cutting large discs from structural CLT remnants; and also designed an oversized custom pivot door in CLT which provides a playful sense of entry.”