Rift House

This rear extension and loft conversion at an Edwardian house in South London transforms under-exploited cellular spaces into light-filled garden-facing principal rooms. Neighbouring boundary conditions, along with an existing stepped arrangement to the rear of the house, prompted a series of folds and shifts in the new design that brings volume, height and light to a consolidated family room overlooking the rear garden. The ‘pinwheel’ arrangement of existing cross walls and beams inspire a moment of real architectural drama, where old and new volumes are sheared apart from each other to leave behind a light filled ‘rift’ at the new social heart of the dwelling. Upstairs, the existing roof space is converted into a master bedroom suite with views across a green oasis behind the property.