该项目是伦敦北部维多利亚时代住宅后部的单层扩建部分，创造了适合居家办公的灵活的一楼空间，同时也重新安置了房屋，使其成为生活之家。项目名称涉及设计的核心策略，即为室内带来间接光线。此外还涉及充当“阴影捕捉器”的外表皮，即彩色浇筑混凝土砌块，它们在没有太阳直射的情况下也能在后立面形成阴影。业主是日本个人色彩顾问兼平面设计师Keiko Cummings及其学者丈夫Alan，他们委托Office S&M对房屋一楼厨房进行扩建，使其适合用作咨询空间。该夫妇热衷于色彩和光线，这促成了建筑师和业主之间有益的对话、尝试和发现过程。

Overcast House is a single-storey rear extension to a Victorian house in north London, creating a flexible ground floor space which accommodates working-from-home while reconfiguring the house to make it a home for life. The project name speaks of a central strategy to bring indirect light into the space and references the ‘shadow catcher’ external skin – pigmented cast concrete blocks that model shadows on the rear façade even in the absence of direct sun. The houseowners – Keiko Cummings, a Japanese personal colour consultant and graphic designer, and her husband, Alan, an academic – appointed Office S&M to enlarge their ground floor kitchen and make it suitable for use as a consultation space. The client’s passionate interest in colour and light made for a rewarding process of dialogue, experimentation and discovery for architect and client.

▼从后庭院望向住宅，view from backyard to the house © Megan Taylor

扩建部分由木材建造，它不仅含碳量比砖或砌块低很多，而且可以形成特别薄的结构。其外表面覆盖定制的圆齿形彩色混凝土块，由Office S&M和Mortise Concrete共同研制。比起普通砌砖，该材料实现了更可调节的立面。颜色互补的绿色排水管将雨水从屋顶排出。

The extension is constructed in timber, which has a much lower embodied carbon than a brick or blockwork inner skin and creates the thinnest structure possible. It is clad in an external skin of bespoke pigmented scalloped concrete blocks developed by Office S&M with Mortise Concrete. This creates a more modulated elevation than would be achieved with ubiquitous brick. A complementary green downpipe theatrically celebrates the exit of rainwater from the roof.

▼外立面，external facade © Megan Taylor

▼后部入口，rear entrance © Megan Taylor

▼从入口望向室内，view from entrance to the interior © Megan Taylor