This Portobello home has been transformed with a light-filled extension
The design by Newmark Architects brings sunlight deep into the house, and has been finished with a warm colour palette.
When the owners of this Portobello home first approached Newmark Architects, co-founder Sinead Bourke explains that the house had an existing extension. Housing the kitchen and dining area, it was small and dark. “There was no direct connection between the main body of the house and the garden, as it was blocked by a bathroom,” she explains.
What the owners were looking for was a bright space that was large enough to entertain, and would be the focus of the home. “As the rear garden is east-facing,” Sinead says, “the back of the house receives mainly morning light and the client was eager to get more sunlight into the extension later into the day.”
The design involved turning the angle of the extension towards the south, allowing more natural light to penetrate the house. High-level glazing was chosen, and the design also worked to make the most of the space.
“By locating the kitchen island centrally and attaching it to a seating bench for the dining area we were able to provide sufficient room to connect directly to the garden while circulating around the kitchen and dining area.”
Light is further brought into the home through the clever use of a courtyard between the house and the extension, allowing daylight to enter a ground floor study in the original house.
“This also allowed us to keep an existing magnolia tree in the garden and to frame a view of it from the kitchen,” Sinead explains, while replacing a large shed in the garden with a smaller one allowed for more outdoor space.
To help the extension feel more connected to the rest of the house, a ground floor bathroom was removed, linking the extension to the stairwell. “This also provides a direct visual connection from the main body of the house through to the garden,” Sinead says. “A new bathroom and utility room were located deep in the middle of the plan at ground floor level to occupy the darkest part in the house.”
Because the windows were a prominent part of the design, Sinead explains that a lot of thought went into choosing them. “We chose an iroko timber window frame, complemented with a wide-plank timber floor in a limed oak finish and subtle wall tiling in a muted tone to lend some texture to the room without being overpowering. The iroko of the glazing is picked up in the client’s mid-century furniture.”
The result is a warm, welcoming space, flooded with natural light.
Photography: Aisling McCoy
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