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Architects: T O B Architect
- Year: 2018
Text description provided by the architects. Normal House is straightforward. It extends to the side and rear of the house to provide a utility area, wc, and new kitchen. On the first floor the extension crosses the back wall of the existing house to create two bay window study areas to the tiny existing bedrooms. The internal ground floor walls are removed and replaced with two large sliding partitions. The project began around the same time as a trip to London to visit the social housing of Neave Brown, and that inspiring trip greatly influenced the materials and layout of the house.
The extension is built in block and wrapped in external insulation. The use of external insulation allows some playfulness on the rear elevation where the layered depth of insulation is cut into to form recesses and the oblique angle on the rear facade. A high level roof light is shared between the utility and the kitchen at connecting corner.
Normal House was only made possible by an exceptional builder with a small team of highly skilled people who were capable of everything from the ground works to the tiling. Most importantly the Builder loved building; their hand is very much evident in the fine detailing of the project throughout. The project was a rare enough thing in that it ran smoothly, came in on budget and made everyone happy.
