This south London house has undergone a complete transformation, whilst retaining and restoring original features.

Two small bedrooms on the top floor are separated with a curtain and have both a small loft room to retreat into. This reduces the height-perception of the house and reduces the load on the foundation. A small dormer houses a new small room with views over the city and under the eaves a second bedroom is located. The void space is used to hang netting to create hammocks. 

The rafters in the cathedral ceiling have been left exposed and have been painted.

More images and information here.

We have recently featured on e‑architect’s website, edited by Isabelle Lomholt. The full feature can be viewed here.

Sustainability

The house has a fabric first approach to the design with very low U Values and air leakage and used Passivhaus detailing. The glazing orientation and building overhangs promote beneficial solar gains in winter, and manage high solar gains in the summer. A large roof mounted photovoltaic array and electric car charging facilities and an electrical storage battery use renewable energy.

Heat recovery from waste air is used to preheat incoming air during winter. Natural ventilation from high and low level openings and central ​‘atrium’ promoting stack ventilation forces during summer.

e-architects: Burwood House in South East England

We are delighted that Burwood is featured online in the Architect’s Journal, edited by Fran Williams. The full article can be seen here.

Located in the south-east of England in an Area of Outstanding Beauty, Burwood House consists of two oak-clad volumes linked together by a third, inspired by the forms of existing oak trees in the adjacent garden. The large lounge to one side of the house is enclosed by glass and looks out towards the sea. 

The full feature ​‘Burwood is a sustainable timber house’ written by Ellie Stathaki for Wallpaper can be read here.

‘Burwood is a type of wood that grows in existing woods, becoming a new tree’, de Haas explains. ​‘It is the name of the house, and we hope the house will itself slowly disappear in the green.’

Wallpaper*: Burwood is a sustainable timber house by Catja de Haas Architects

The full feature ​‘Burwood is a sustainable timber house’ written by Ellie Stathaki for Wallpaper can be read here.

‘Burwood is a type of wood that grows in existing woods, becoming a new tree’, de Haas explains. ​‘It is the name of the house, and we hope the house will itself slowly disappear in the green.’