studio jayga architects elevates 1930s essex house with new, fresh-toned kitchen extension

discover the sleek and modern nnU house in loughton, essex

the nnU house is a freshly revamped semi-detached property from the 1930s nestled in loughton, essex, and featuring a new kitchen extension. london-based studio jayga architects completed the project for a young family with demanding city careers and a desire to live in a modern, warm-toned, open-plan living space that strongly connects to the house’s existing 300 ft long garden.

reconfiguring the house’s outdated + cramped ground floor 

the original ground floor of the nnU house held three spaces towards the back, including a dated narrow kitchen, a cramped, windowless living room, and a 1980s extension serving as the dining room. the rooms all sat on one level, nearly a meter above the garden, with only a set of steep steps providing access to it. there was a further imposing outbuilding located very close to the house, which obscured the view of the garden and reduced natural daylight internally. 

as such, studio jayga architects (see more here) proposed demolishing the outbuilding and reconfiguring the three spaces at the back with a new rear extension to create a split-level design connected with internal steps. this enables the new kitchen floor to have direct access to the outdoors. 

the resulting elements are a pair of arched metal doors that provide a direct physical and visual connection to the garden without any level changes. additionally, a linear rooflight sits between the existing house and new extension — linking the two internal spaces and allowing natural light into the center of the house. meanwhile, an up-and-over frameless glass box serves as a unique, curved window seat.

‘it cantilevers out and provides uninterrupted views out into the garden and up into the sky. it is a great place to sit throughout the year and also allows natural daylight to flood the dining table below,’ shares the studio. 

emphasizing the arched volumes and injecting timber accents 

completing the renovated interior is the bespoke kitchen units and island that echo the soft curves of the arched doors and glass box. the elliptical island is wrapped around with bent flutes and finished off with a colorful terrazzo worktop. wall units are full height to maximize the amount of storage provided. finally, to emphasize the new extension, the architects clad its external envelope with timber, charred on-site, using the ancient japanese technique of ‘shou-sugi-ban’. 

looking at the newly-added arched window and doors, we can see where the project name comes from. the studio explains: ‘nnU house is named in line with the geometric shapes of the two arched doors (‘nn’) and the up-and-over glass box (‘U’) when viewing the house from the garden.’

project info:

name: nnU house

location: loughton, essex
architecture: studio jayga architects
lead architect: abul mahdi

photography: marcus peel

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