宜思居丨英国伦敦丨Nimtim Architects

Local studio Nimtim Architects has playfully transformed a Victorian terrace house in London for Dezeen editor Tom Ravenscroft, adding an extension with exposed easi-joists and cork-clad walls.

Named Easi-House – in reference both to how easy the house is to live in now and the extension's distinctive easi-joists – the home was designed for Tom Ravenscroft, his wife Margaret Ravenscroft, who also works in the architectural sphere, and their three children.

Nimtim Architects aimed to use ordinary materials in unconventional ways at Easi-House

"We wanted to improve the layout – it was squirrely and confused – to make it more open and brighter, but also super interesting and something we hadn't seen before," said Margaret and Tom Ravenscroft.

"Nimtim designed a floor plan that made sense. They opened up the important spaces – where we spend the most time – and encouraged us to leave these changes visible for simplicity and sustainability."

A rear extension at Easi-House contains an open-plan kitchen and dining area

The family worked with Nimtim Architects to think up creative ways of using ordinary materials.

"There was a shared ambition to use everyday materials in unusual ways and to create spaces that were colourful, robust and flexible," Nimtim Architects founders Nimi Attanayake and Tim O'Callaghan told Dezeen.

"The clients wanted a distinctive and playful home that reflected their own busy and creative family life," the duo continued. "When we see the project now, we really see their spirit and playfulness reflected back at us."

Easi-joists were left exposed and engineering bricks line the floors in the extension

Structure was exposed and celebrated throughout the ground floor, including in the rear extension, where low-cost easi-joists – a type of joist made from parallel timber chords with metal webs – were left exposed to add visual interest.

Nimtim Architects reused bricks demolished from the existing home to build the extension, which features corrugated metal wrapping the upper facades.

"There was an intention to use materials simply and honestly," said Attanayake and O'Callaghan. "It was also a project that wanted to be honest about its modest budget, but to do so in a creative and playful way."

"The corrugated metal's main benefit is that it can be found in almost any builder's merchant and doesn't require a specialist supplier or minimum order," they continued. "It is robust and long-lasting and provides an interesting play with light and reflection."

The extension is lit by a row of skylights

Illuminated from above by skylights, the extension contains a kitchen that runs along a cork-clad wall, where mint-green units were topped with a terrazzo-effect worktop made from recycled plastic.

Opposite the kitchen, a dining area was tucked under the upper floor level and features a built-in L-shaped bench made by Tom Ravenscroft and his brother, Ben Thornton.

Pink columns and glulam beams were left exposed in Easi-House

Engineering bricks, typically used for foundations and structural walls, were reimagined as flooring in the open-plan kitchen-dining space and in the garden, which is accessed through glass doors.

The front of the house was opened up to create a flexible family living area, supported by pink steel columns and glued laminated timber beams.

The house was designed for a young family of five

According to Tom Ravenscroft, they presented Nimtim with numerous references, ideas and suggestions.

"I spend a large part of my time looking at architecture, including hundreds and hundreds of homes, so it's fair to say we had too many thoughts and ideas that Nimtim had deal with," he said.

These references included Frank Gehry's pioneering 1978 home in Santa Monica – both its unconventional use of materials and the colours of its kitchen.

"The Santa Monica House subverts a familiar house typology with playful, unexpected and low-technology interventions," said Attanayake and O'Callaghan. "It doesn't seek to change or reinvent the existing fabric but radically transforms its perception and use by juxtaposing it against new and contrasting materials and geometries."

"At Easi-House, we sought out robust and contrasting materials like the easi-joists and corrugated metal cladding – materials more familiar in non-domestic settings like Gehry's chainlink fence."

A bench made by Tom Ravenscroft and his brother wraps the corner of the dining area

Overall, the family is extremely satisfied, not only with the fun and materiality of the home, but also the layout.

"The layout is really functional but for some reason we haven't come across it in other terrace extensions," they said.

"The long, narrow kitchen slicing between the two living spaces makes for an efficient ground floor plan with seamless flow, but still allows for distinct and practical spaces," they continued.

"We also love the kids 'clubhouse' under the stairs – a late addition inspired by a cupboard in Margaret's parents' home that the kids loved playing in when we stayed for five weeks during the renovation."

Other London house extensions by Nimtim Architects include an extension made from low-carbon materials such as hempcrete and an extension characterised by pops of ultramarine blue.

The photography is by Jim Stephenson.