Share this
Looking back at 2019
by RISE Design Studio on Jan 9, 2020
Happy New Year to all our clients and followers. We finished some really exciting projects in 2019, two of which were shared widely online due to coverage from some of the architecture and design world’s top websites. Douglas House, an extension of a terraced house in Kensal Rise in London, transformed the property into a contemporary and light living space. The second, the ‘Brexit Bunker’, nicknamed by its owner in Kensal Rise, added a garden office and ‘place of serenity’.
Douglas fir-lined extension
“180 metre square project features an oriel window which sits in dialogue with a third-floor reading pod”
Dressed in Danish timber, the family rooms have taken over the ground floor to extend into the garden. The ground floor also houses a carefully designed utility room and built-in larders that extend from the floor and hide in the walls of the living room. On the first floor, the children’s rooms are decorated with wooden details and other natural materials, and the family bathroom is full of natural light. The loft conversion is home to the master bedroom, which has a second half-floor that extends upwards to a reading space from which you can look out over the local area.
The house also features a range of environmental technologies, including high levels of insulation, airtightness, roof-mounted solar panels, a mechanical ventilation heat recovery system, rainwater harvesting, and smart thermostats.
We were delighted that this project was featured by:
Architect’s Journal: ‘RISE Design Studio completes Douglas fir-lined extension to London house‘
ArchDaily: ‘Douglas House/RISE Design Studio‘
Dezeen: ‘RISE Design Studio adds Douglas fir-lined reading nooks to London house‘
Architecture Today: ‘RISE Design Studio has maximised the spatial and environmental potential of a semi-detached house in London‘
An oasis of calm in a busy city
“A calming retreat from the hectic outside world”
The ‘Brexit bunker’ was added to a small garden – although novel, it does not interfere with the property’s existing architecture and the raw aesthetic ties the entire garden together. The walls are built with reclaimed bricks and the interior is clad with birch plywood, giving the space a warm glow when the light reflects from the skylight in the roof. Spanish steps lead towards the roof light and a relaxing space to contemplate life without seeing any visual cues that the structure is in the city rather than the countryside.
This project was featured by:
Architizer: ‘The Brexit Bunker, London‘
designboom: ‘The Brexit Bunker is an oasis of calm in north-west London‘
Archilovers: ‘Brexit Bunker‘
You can also read more on our Projects page.
Share this
- Architecture (146)
- Sustainable architecture (85)
- Design (66)
- Retrofit (55)
- Passivhaus (53)
- London (51)
- New build (48)
- Renovation (41)
- energy (38)
- interior design (37)
- Sustainable Design (34)
- Planning (32)
- Environment (31)
- Building materials (30)
- climate-change (29)
- Inspirational architects (27)
- Refurbishment (27)
- extensions (27)
- Building elements (22)
- Inspiration (21)
- Rise Projects (16)
- enerphit (16)
- Extension (13)
- net zero (13)
- General (12)
- Philosophy (12)
- Carbon Zero Homes (11)
- Working with an architect (10)
- architects (10)
- Awards (9)
- Innovative Architecture (9)
- London Architecture (8)
- RIBA (8)
- architect (8)
- Airtightness (6)
- Eenergy efficiency (6)
- Uncategorized (6)
- Virtual Reality (6)
- RISE Sketchbook Chronicles (5)
- Sustainable (5)
- cinema design (5)
- ARB (4)
- BIM (4)
- Basement Extensions (4)
- concrete (4)
- local materials (4)
- modular architecture (4)
- working from home (4)
- Carbon Positive Buildings (3)
- Home improvement (3)
- Passive house (3)
- Permitted development (3)
- Planning permission (3)
- Property (3)
- circular economy (3)
- construction (3)
- mvhr (3)
- natural materials (3)
- plywood (3)
- structural (3)
- structuralengineer (3)
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) (2)
- Bricks (2)
- Building in the Green Belt (2)
- Costs (2)
- Covid-19 (2)
- Heat Pumps (2)
- Home extensions (2)
- Permitted development rights (2)
- Residential architecture (2)
- Roof extension (2)
- Social Distancing (2)
- Welbeing (2)
- ashp (2)
- barcelona (2)
- building information modelling (2)
- co-working (2)
- design&build (2)
- furniture (2)
- glazed-extensions (2)
- green architecture (2)
- greenbelt (2)
- historic architecture (2)
- light (2)
- living space (2)
- london landmarks (2)
- londoncinemas (2)
- openingupworks (2)
- peter zumthor (2)
- rammed earth (2)
- self build (2)
- sustainability (2)
- sustainable building (2)
- traditional (2)
- trialpits (2)
- #NLANetZero (1)
- 3D Printing (1)
- 3D models (1)
- Adobe (1)
- Alvar (1)
- Architecture Interior Design (1)
- Area (1)
- Art (1)
- BIMx (1)
- BREEAM (1)
- Bespoke lighting (1)
- Birmingham Selfridges (1)
- Boat building (1)
- Boats (1)
- Brass (1)
- Brexit (1)
- Building energy (1)
- Casting (1)
- Chailey Brick (1)
- Chartered architect (1)
- Commercial Architecture (1)
- Copper (1)
- Czech Republic, (1)
- David Lea (1)
- Dormer extension (1)
- Ecohouse (1)
- Fees (1)
- Flooding (1)
- Furniture design (1)
- Gandhi memorial museum (1)
- Garden studio (1)
- Green Register (1)
- Green infrastructure (1)
- History (1)
- House cost (1)
- India (1)
- Jan Kaplický (1)
- Kitchen Design (1)
- L-shaped dormer (1)
- Land value (1)
- Loft conversion (1)
- Lord's Media Centre (1)
- Mapping (1)
- Marseilles (1)
- Mary Portas (1)
- Metal (1)
- Micro Generation (1)
- Monuments (1)
- Party Wall Surveyor (1)
- Place (1)
- Porch (1)
- Prefab (1)
- Procurement (1)
- Richard Rogers (1)
- Sand (1)
- Scandinavian architecture (1)
- Selfbuild (1)
- Social housing (1)
- Spain (1)
- Steel (1)
- Surveying (1)
- Sverre fehn (1)
- VR (1)
- West london (1)
- Wildlife (1)
- Wood (1)
- architect fees (1)
- architectural details (1)
- arne jacobsen (1)
- avant garde (1)
- backland (1)
- basements (1)
- brentdesignawards (1)
- building design (1)
- building regulations (1)
- built environment (1)
- carbonpositive (1)
- cement (1)
- charles correa (1)
- charles eames (1)
- charlie warde (1)
- charteredarchitect (1)
- climate (1)
- climate action (1)
- codes of practice (1)
- collaboration (1)
- constructioncosts (1)
- country house (1)
- countryside (1)
- covid (1)
- dezeenawards (1)
- drone (1)
- eco-living (1)
- emissions (1)
- epc (1)
- finnish architecture (1)
- foundations (1)
- futuristic (1)
- georgian architecture (1)
- glazed envelope (1)
- good working relationships (1)
- green building (1)
- hampstead (1)
- happiness (1)
- health and wellbeing (1)
- home extension (1)
- homesurveys (1)
- house extension (1)
- imperfection (1)
- independentcinemas (1)
- innovation (1)
- inspirational (1)
- insulation (1)
- interiorfinishes (1)
- internal windows (1)
- jean prouve (1)
- kindness economy (1)
- kintsugi (1)
- landscape architecture (1)
- lime (1)
- listed buildings (1)
- local (1)
- lockdown (1)
- low carbon (1)
- mansard (1)
- manufacturing (1)
- materiality (1)
- modern architecture (1)
- moderninst (1)
- modernism (1)
- moulded furniture (1)
- natural (1)
- natural cooling (1)
- natural light (1)
- nordic pavilion (1)
- northern ireland (1)
- palazzo (1)
- placemaking (1)
- planningpermission (1)
- plywood kitchen (1)
- post-Covid (1)
- poverty (1)
- powerhouse (1)
- preapp (1)
- preapplication (1)
- project management (1)
- ray eames (1)
- reclaimed bricks (1)
- recycle (1)
- renewable energy (1)
- reuse (1)
- ricardo bofill (1)
- rooflights (1)
- room reconfiguration (1)
- rural (1)
- satellite imagery (1)
- selfbuildhouse (1)
- shared spaces (1)
- site-progress (1)
- solarpvs (1)
- space (1)
- stone (1)
- structuralsurvey (1)
- sun tunnel (1)
- sustainable materials (1)
- terraces (1)
- thegreenregister (1)
- totality (1)
- wabi-sabi (1)
- waste (1)
- wooden furniture (1)
- zero waste (1)
- December 2024 (1)
- November 2024 (8)
- October 2024 (5)
- June 2024 (1)
- May 2024 (1)
- March 2024 (1)
- February 2024 (1)
- January 2024 (2)
- November 2023 (1)
- October 2023 (5)
- September 2023 (7)
- August 2023 (7)
- July 2023 (6)
- June 2023 (8)
- May 2023 (14)
- April 2023 (11)
- March 2023 (8)
- February 2023 (6)
- January 2023 (5)
- December 2022 (3)
- November 2022 (3)
- October 2022 (3)
- September 2022 (3)
- July 2022 (2)
- June 2022 (1)
- May 2022 (1)
- April 2022 (1)
- March 2022 (1)
- February 2022 (2)
- January 2022 (1)
- November 2021 (1)
- October 2021 (2)
- July 2021 (1)
- June 2021 (1)
- May 2021 (1)
- April 2021 (1)
- March 2021 (1)
- February 2021 (1)
- January 2021 (2)
- December 2020 (1)
- November 2020 (1)
- October 2020 (1)
- September 2020 (2)
- August 2020 (1)
- June 2020 (3)
- April 2020 (3)
- March 2020 (2)
- February 2020 (3)
- January 2020 (1)
- December 2019 (1)
- November 2019 (2)
- September 2019 (1)
- June 2019 (1)
- April 2019 (2)
- January 2019 (2)
- October 2018 (1)
- September 2018 (1)
- August 2018 (2)
- July 2018 (1)
- March 2018 (1)
- February 2018 (2)
- December 2017 (1)
- September 2017 (1)
- May 2017 (1)
- January 2017 (1)
- December 2016 (1)
- November 2016 (1)
- September 2016 (1)
- August 2016 (2)
- June 2016 (2)
- May 2016 (1)
- April 2016 (1)
- December 2015 (1)
- October 2015 (1)
- September 2015 (1)
- August 2015 (1)
- June 2015 (1)
- January 2015 (1)
- September 2014 (2)
- August 2014 (1)
- July 2014 (4)
- June 2014 (9)
- May 2014 (2)
- April 2014 (1)
- March 2014 (1)
- February 2014 (1)
- December 2013 (1)
- November 2013 (5)
- October 2013 (5)
- September 2013 (5)
- August 2013 (5)
- July 2013 (5)
- June 2013 (2)
- May 2013 (2)
- April 2013 (4)
- March 2013 (5)
- February 2013 (2)
- January 2013 (3)