Renovating
5 Inspiring ‘Don’t Move, Improve’ Shortlist Projects
The shortlist for the 2021 residential design awards featured some very creative and cost-conscious homes by Houzz pros
The annual Don’t Move, Improve! awards celebrate London-wide home renovations that showcase innovation, cost-effectiveness and creativity – along, of course, with the talent of the design professionals behind each project. Our pick of the nominations takes in five inspiring designs, ranging from a council house cleverly expanded despite a rejected planning application to a standalone abode built in a conservation area garden. Take a look around.
Typical of midcentury townhouses, the living space was on the first floor and the connection to the garden was weak. The bedrooms were also on the small side. Nimtim’s brief was to create a new family space at ground level that felt well-connected to the garden, plus a bedroom suite on the first floor. The architects also oversaw a complete redecoration of the second floor.
Previously, as seen in this drawing, the end-of-terrace house had a built-in garage (bottom left space in the left-hand drawing). This is now an internal room, and the ground floor space has been transformed by a wraparound extension on the side and back of the property.
Nimtim say of the project, “The house is now home to a two-year-old and a five-year-old and provides a playful and suitably robust backdrop to family life. The articulation of spaces has come into is own during lockdown, allowing different activities to occur throughout the house without disruption.”
See more of this house.
See more of this house.
The eco-friendly garden dwelling
There’s more timber-celebrating design in this project, ‘The Origami House’, by KSKa Architects, which also gained a highly commended at last year’s Structural Timber Awards.
The garden building was constructed at the back of the clients’ garden and designed as a self-contained starter home for their daughter. It also works as a comfortable home office, somewhere relatives can stay, and a place for quarantining, if needs be.
It’s attached to the family home, a listed house within a conservation area. The unusual shape was inspired by the irregular foundation footprint left behind when an older garden studio was demolished.
There’s more timber-celebrating design in this project, ‘The Origami House’, by KSKa Architects, which also gained a highly commended at last year’s Structural Timber Awards.
The garden building was constructed at the back of the clients’ garden and designed as a self-contained starter home for their daughter. It also works as a comfortable home office, somewhere relatives can stay, and a place for quarantining, if needs be.
It’s attached to the family home, a listed house within a conservation area. The unusual shape was inspired by the irregular foundation footprint left behind when an older garden studio was demolished.
The building’s nickname comes from its cross-laminated timber (CLT) folded plate origami construction. This type of structure allows for a fast build (the panels were up in just five days) and the adoption of Passivhaus sustainability measures, including super insulation, triple glazing and MVHR (mechanical ventilation with heat recovery), which all feature here.
The building’s principal architect, Matt Keeler, believes key to the project being nominated was its sustainability and innovative use of CLT. “[The material] makes beautiful, calm, heat-tight shapes and spaces,” he says.
He adds that CLT buildings tend to be designed as square boxes; as well as the already-mentioned footprint of the original garden studio, the shape of this dwelling was influenced by the need to reduce overlooking from the buildings behind it.
Take a look inside this self-contained space.
Photos by Agnese Sanvito.
The building’s principal architect, Matt Keeler, believes key to the project being nominated was its sustainability and innovative use of CLT. “[The material] makes beautiful, calm, heat-tight shapes and spaces,” he says.
He adds that CLT buildings tend to be designed as square boxes; as well as the already-mentioned footprint of the original garden studio, the shape of this dwelling was influenced by the need to reduce overlooking from the buildings behind it.
Take a look inside this self-contained space.
Photos by Agnese Sanvito.
The painstakingly restored Victorian terrace
The challenge of creating a home fit for modern life while preserving the charm and history of an old house is one we often see addressed in projects and discussions on Houzz.
Here, Richard Gill of Paul Archer Design has pulled off a sensitive yet practical transformation of a tired, compact Grade II Listed townhouse close to the South Bank in London. Paul repaired or restored windows, doors, roof and walls, on one of which the team discovered and preserved a mural of fairies, thought to date back to the Victorian period.
The challenge of creating a home fit for modern life while preserving the charm and history of an old house is one we often see addressed in projects and discussions on Houzz.
Here, Richard Gill of Paul Archer Design has pulled off a sensitive yet practical transformation of a tired, compact Grade II Listed townhouse close to the South Bank in London. Paul repaired or restored windows, doors, roof and walls, on one of which the team discovered and preserved a mural of fairies, thought to date back to the Victorian period.
Thoughtful new additions include a half landing and rooflight at the top of the house, which creates enough space for a tiny home office flooded with natural light.
Elsewhere, as part of a whole house renovation, bespoke joinery makes the best use of every nook and cranny and, most notably, the house has been extended.
Find the perfect person to help you transform your own home in the Houzz Professionals Directory.
Elsewhere, as part of a whole house renovation, bespoke joinery makes the best use of every nook and cranny and, most notably, the house has been extended.
Find the perfect person to help you transform your own home in the Houzz Professionals Directory.
It’s an addition of two halves – brick-built on the right and glass on the left. This choice reflects the original proportions of the building, echoing the sense of a side return in the glazed section.
Because the extension has created space for a kitchen-diner, the owners now have a guest/reading room where the old dining room was and a new bathroom on the lower ground floor where the kitchen used to be.
There’s also a new garden studio, which provides space for one of the owners – a musician – to work in.
Richard says of the nomination, “[The project] seems to have captured the current need for homes to provide a combination of comfortable and inspiring places to live and work. What we think caught the judges’ eye is the way the design has responded sensitively to the confines of this modest Grade II Listed townhouse, with the feeling of space, flow and light.”
Browse more photos of the project.
Because the extension has created space for a kitchen-diner, the owners now have a guest/reading room where the old dining room was and a new bathroom on the lower ground floor where the kitchen used to be.
There’s also a new garden studio, which provides space for one of the owners – a musician – to work in.
Richard says of the nomination, “[The project] seems to have captured the current need for homes to provide a combination of comfortable and inspiring places to live and work. What we think caught the judges’ eye is the way the design has responded sensitively to the confines of this modest Grade II Listed townhouse, with the feeling of space, flow and light.”
Browse more photos of the project.
The interior reinvention
Here’s another one of those transformations that prompts a double-take and was the Joint Winner of this year’s Compact Design of the Year Prize.
Architecture and interior design practice VATRAA worked within a tight budget, with high sustainability goals, to transform this unprepossessing 80 sq m ex-council house into a characterful and airy home.
The house remains respectful of the appearance of the council estate externally. Internally, the home has been reinvented…
Here’s another one of those transformations that prompts a double-take and was the Joint Winner of this year’s Compact Design of the Year Prize.
Architecture and interior design practice VATRAA worked within a tight budget, with high sustainability goals, to transform this unprepossessing 80 sq m ex-council house into a characterful and airy home.
The house remains respectful of the appearance of the council estate externally. Internally, the home has been reinvented…
To both save money and reduce the project’s environmental impact, the design was stripped to its essentials. For example, structural joists were exposed, making the bones of the original building visible for authenticity.
The entrance lobby was also opened up to the pitched roof, which gives the small space a grand and airy feel.
The entrance lobby was also opened up to the pitched roof, which gives the small space a grand and airy feel.
To further increase the sense of space and light, just three finishes were used – white paint for the ceilings, whitewashed oak flooring and a soft, pale plaster finish on the walls.
Anamaria Pircu, architect and founding partner at Vatraa, says, “This project demonstrates that, if fully embraced, the limitations and specifics of [a] project can lead to surprising solutions grounded in [its] context.”
Explore the whole house.
Anamaria Pircu, architect and founding partner at Vatraa, says, “This project demonstrates that, if fully embraced, the limitations and specifics of [a] project can lead to surprising solutions grounded in [its] context.”
Explore the whole house.
The clever half loft extension
When the owners of this house, another compact property on a housing estate, approached architecture firm Bradley Van Der Straeten, they were expecting a second baby. They didn’t want to leave the area, but couldn’t afford to upsize to a place with the third bedroom they needed.
The obvious answer was to add another floor on top, but the council’s planning department turned down the application to extend the loft, saying the house must not exceed the highest point of the existing roof.
When the owners of this house, another compact property on a housing estate, approached architecture firm Bradley Van Der Straeten, they were expecting a second baby. They didn’t want to leave the area, but couldn’t afford to upsize to a place with the third bedroom they needed.
The obvious answer was to add another floor on top, but the council’s planning department turned down the application to extend the loft, saying the house must not exceed the highest point of the existing roof.
The architects came up with the ingenious solution of building up a flat roof within the permitted height and, internally, creating two interlocking floor levels. The key was in using the ceiling of the bedroom on the floor below to create a sleeping platform for a new room above it (seen here) and minimising the depth of ceiling heights with millimetre precision.
Architect George Bradley, another Joint Winner of this year’s Compact Design of the Year Prize, says, “Although the project is very small and compact, roof windows and double-height spaces have been carefully inserted to allow for more daylight and ventilation, improving the quality of space for the whole home.”
An all-glass yet discreet new opening has also been added at ground floor level, which can just been seen in the first photograph.
Architect George Bradley, another Joint Winner of this year’s Compact Design of the Year Prize, says, “Although the project is very small and compact, roof windows and double-height spaces have been carefully inserted to allow for more daylight and ventilation, improving the quality of space for the whole home.”
An all-glass yet discreet new opening has also been added at ground floor level, which can just been seen in the first photograph.
The bedroom (the doorway is at the top of the stairs) also features an internal window, which can be seen on the right here.
“We designed the project to be made almost entirely out of wood,” George says, “enabling structural elements to also double-up as internal finishes, making the project much more affordable.”
Explore more of this unusual renovation.
Tell us…
Which project would you vote for and why? Let us know in the Comments.
“We designed the project to be made almost entirely out of wood,” George says, “enabling structural elements to also double-up as internal finishes, making the project much more affordable.”
Explore more of this unusual renovation.
Tell us…
Which project would you vote for and why? Let us know in the Comments.
This late midcentury house is located in a former orchard and nimtim Architects cleverly redesigned it to capitalise on the verdant surroundings. They also opened up the spaces and extended it to create a flexible home for a young family.
The whole project, nicknamed ‘The Fruit Box’, was completed under Permitted Development parameters. While externally the new finishes match neighbouring homes, the use of steel and concrete was minimised and the extension is timber-framed, exposed internally for a warm finish.