Will Gamble Architects has updated a house in west London with an extension modelled on a Japanese tea house.
Burnt House is an extension to a Victorian house in Fulham featuring a charred wood window seat and gridded glazing.
Its design is based on the shoji screen, a facade or room divider in traditional Japanese architecture and a common feature in the tea house.
“The concept of drawing inspiration from Japanese architecture materialised from the clients’ desire to use charred timber somewhere in the proposal,” explained architect and studio founder Will Gamble.
“The charring of timber is a traditional Japanese method of treating wood, therefore we felt that this Japanese influence should be reflected in the overall appearance of the scheme, not just its timber cladding,” he told us.
The clients, a young couple, had asked both Gamble and interior design studio Smith & Butler to renovate their entire home.
The extension plays an important part in the scheme, creating a large open-plan kitchen and dining space facing the rear garden.
With its Japanese-style appearance, the extension stands out from the brick walls of the main house, but neat proportions and a pitched roof help to tie old and new together.
Although it looks like there is a lot of blackened wood, in fact the only element is a large window seat built into the glazing. The facade steps to help this element fit it, while the steel-framed windows are finished in black to match.
