Project 256
Alwyne Road
Canonbury · Conservation area
The full refurbishment of a semi-detached Victorian villa, opening the rear of the house to the garden with new slim-framed glazing.
01Full refurbishment
02Open-plan lower ground floor and floating oak stair
03New rear glazing by Fabco and front garden works
The house is a mid-Victorian villa in the Canonbury Conservation Area, with stock brick, white stucco dressings and a raised front door reached by stone steps.
The project was a full refurbishment of the house, with alterations to the glazing at the rear and new landscaping to the front garden.
The rear
Slim frames, more light
At the rear, the existing openings were reworked with slim-framed Fabco doors and side panels, so the principal rooms open fully to the garden.
The narrow frames keep the glass as large as possible and sit quietly against the original brickwork.
As the house is not listed, the internal walls on the lower ground floor were removed to make one open space from the front of the house to the garden. A new floating oak stair, its treads cantilevered from the wall behind a single sheet of glass, leads down from the raised ground floor. A timber door and panel at the top of the stair provide the required 30-minute fire protection, so the stair can stay open below.
The front
A garden to the street
To the front, the garden was replanted behind new railings and a low brick wall, giving the house a green setting on the street.
Inside, the house was refurbished throughout. The original stair, cornices and fanlight were kept and restored.
Gallery
The finished house
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