Behind a charred larch exterior, this London loft extension contains a pair of plywood-lined bedrooms that double up as quiet study spaces.
British studio Widger Architecture designed the extension for a first-floor flat in Walthamstow, east London. The brief was to transform the old attic floor into new living spaces, including two generously sized bedrooms.

The sloping roof presented an issue with head-height, which Widger Architecture got around by building a dormer window that spans the entire width of the property. This new addition creates a flat ceiling for the two bedrooms.
The spaces were then lined almost entirely with plywood ? a material that is getting a lot of attention at the moment, thanks to a new exhibition at the V&A.
Birch plywood covers the walls and ceilings, but was also used to create built-in furniture including cupboards, desks and a window seat. Simple but decorative details were also created in the joinery, from facets around the windows, to striped frames around windows and doorways.

"These spaces were previously difficult to inhabit and utilise, due to awkward wall and ceiling planes," said the studio, which is led by architect Kevin Widger.
"The design approach took the existing forms, folds and edges, and not only improved, but also embraced them, attaching new complementary angular forms alongside," it continued.

"The plywood surfaces throughout the interior add a sense of weightlessness floating ab...