Bringing Australia to North London

Mount View Road

Bringing Australia to North London


EPC Energy Rating	Increase from E(44) to C(69)
Depth of rear extension	9m
Social sustainability	New basement supports multi-generational living

While the views from the front of Caroline and Alan’s Crouch End home extend far across London, both the inside space and the garden beyond felt far more restricted when we first came to this project. In this late Victorian villa, many of the ground-floor rooms were quite literally ‘below stairs’, and a more recent extension had very limited connections to the garden. With the family considering a possible move to Caroline’s native Australia, we set out to bring a flavour of her homeland to London instead.

Like many of our clients, the family wanted to maximise the area available by digging a basement. We wanted to ensure that it would fit with their lifestyle not only now but for many years to come, so together we looked at exactly how they would use it. Currently it’s a gym, spare room and family TV room, but in the future, it can easily be adapted as a self-contained flat. The inviting curved staircase ensures that it’s well utilised and very much part of the main house.

We moved the awkward stairs to a more natural position to one side of the hall, opening up a clear sight line to the garden from the front door. A new lightweight extension replaces the old, a timber structure faced with white cladding and durable blockwork. Wanting to optimise views, morning light and space for planting, we set its back wall at a 45-degree angle to the existing footprint. It now reaches out 9 metres from the house, masking the blank wall of the neighbouring extension and giving longer connection between inside and out. Inside, this living space now has the expansive feel and relaxed flow typical of Australian homes, a rooflight at its furthest point drawing the eye up and through the space. We placed the doors of the more orthogonal front reception rooms opposite one another to give more of this same flow in the original part of the house.