The extension of a Victorian house in London

The extension of a nineteenth-century house recovers the flavor of the historic auxiliary buildings in an intervention with a slightly twisted geometry but a sober and essential character. 

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021

Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021

Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021

Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021

Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021

Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021

Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021

Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021

Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021

Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021

Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021

Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021

Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 proposed ground floor plan

Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 existing ground floor plan

Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 proposed S-W elevation detail

Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 proposed S-E elevation detail

Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 proposed section detail

Photo Hampus Berndtson

Manber Jeffries House is a pleasingly intricate extension to the ground floor apartment of a semi-detached Victorian house in Willesden Green, north-west London.

The single-storey building is annexed to the rear of the existing building to allow for the adaptation of the new kitchen and dining room. The articulated roof geometry conforms to the functional needs of the interior spaces in order to manage the difference in elevation between the more elevated historic building and the new one.

The intervention, with a strong conservative sensitivity towards the place, recovers the memory of the traditional auxiliary buildings located in the gardens of Victorian houses and in this case of the two outbuildings with pitched roof, originally adjacent to the brick wall, heavily degraded and then demolished, taken as a source of inspiration in the use of a language of simplicity and functionality.

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021. Photo Hampus Berndtson

The budget constraints have required an extreme rigor in the conscious use of standardized, straightforward and durable building components: a structural steel frame supports a shell covered with terracotta both in the facades and in the roofs, in order to create a figurative continuity with the surrounding area characterized mainly by brick artifacts. The windows are placed freely and without any compositional rigidity in the facade, opening perspectives on the lovely garden where it is spontaneous to think of stopping for a tea.
The interiors are simple and essential, with exposed concrete and ceramic finishes and wooden furnishings that give the environment an aura deliberately a bit dim but warm and welcoming.

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021. Photo Hampus Berndtson
  • Manber Jeffries House
  • James Alder Architects
  • Private
  • Alex Mark
  • London Expert Builders Ltd
  • Willesden Green, London
  • 2021
James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 Photo Hampus Berndtson

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 Photo Hampus Berndtson

proposed ground floor plan

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 Photo Hampus Berndtson

existing ground floor plan

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 Photo Hampus Berndtson

proposed S-W elevation detail

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 Photo Hampus Berndtson

proposed S-E elevation detail

James Alder Architects, Manber Jeffries House, Willesden Green, London, UK 2021 Photo Hampus Berndtson

proposed section detail