Situated in the middle of Wanstead Flats, the Lake House Estate was developed around 1910 as an extension to the Aldersbrook Estate and on the former site of the ‘Great Lake’, a large lake created during the early eighteenth century to provide vistas to and from nearby Wanstead House. The designs for the new houses on the estate were based on ‘pattern books’ and feature an eclectic mix of design features, which vary from house to house but contribute collectively to a distinctive character within the conservation area.

The existing property, located on a corner plot, had undergone various piecemeal additions and alterations over the years, resulting in a fragmented and disconnected ground floor layout with little natural light. The principal aims of the project were to rearrange these spaces to provide an open, connected and flexible floor plan, upgrade the existing building envelope and building services with new sustainable measures to improve the efficiency of the home, and reinstate the original features that had been lost over the years.

A single-storey extension replaces an existing brick addition and conservatory structure at the back of the house. This new extension unifies the rear elevation of the property and is contemporary in its material treatment and detailing. The building envelope comprises a series of ‘thick’ monolithic elements, formed from pale cream bricks with flush lime mortar joints, and slender ‘thin’ aluminium framed glazing between, extending right up to the parapet to create a sense of verticality and height. Internally, the extension provides an open-plan kitchen, dining and informal living area and draws upon a material palette of dark stained oak joinery, cream coloured microcement floors, warm white walls, white-washed timber roof joists, with accents of dusty greens and deep pinks throughout the fitted joinery elements.

A two-storey side extension provides additional service space to the house, including two new bathrooms, a downstairs loo and a utility room with separate side access. The remainder of the existing house was refurbished throughout, including new timber-framed sash windows, the installation of an air-source heat pump, thermal upgrades to the floors and roof, and the restoration of the front and side facades.