nnu House

The new kitchen extension has been designed for a young family who wanted to have a space for modern day living and a stronger connection to their beautiful garden. Due to the existing levels on the site, the garden was nearly a metre below and accessed via a set of external narrow steps. We proposed the demolition of an existing outbuilding which obscured the view of the garden and reduced natural daylight. We designed a new rear extension built on the back of the house to create a split-level open plan space connected with internal steps. This enabled the new kitchen floor to be level with the outside garden. It now provides a direct physical and visual connection to the garden without any level changes. Two arched doors have been designed to provide level access and frames the long views into the garden. An up-and-over glass box allows natural light to pour into the space and provides views into the garden and up into the sky. The base of the glass box is curved which also acts as a great window seat. The external envelope of the extension has been cladded with timber which has been charred on-site, using the ancient Japanese technique of ‘shou-sugi-ban’. nnu House is named in line with the geometric shapes of the doors and windows when looking onto the external facade. The ‘n’ represent the arched doors and the ‘u’ for the up-and-over glass box with a curved base.