House-within-a-House in Brockley, Lewisham Home Extension, South London Property Refurbishment, Building Photos
House-within-a-House in Brockley, South London
27 November 2021
Design: alma-nac Architects
Location: Brockley, Lewisham, South London, England, UK
Individual House
One of the 2021 Brick Award winners
Bricks: Michelmersh

Photos by Jack Hobhouse
House-within-a-House in Brockley, Lewisham
From the outset of the project the brief from the client was to transform what was an eyesore on an otherwise impressive Victorian crescent into a contemporary 6-bedroom family home. The existing property was located on the footprint of a bomb-damaged house that had been destroyed during the second world war. The incongruous nature of the brick box house that had been constructed in 1957 was exacerbated by the fact that its original Victorian twin on the adjacent plot remained intact. During early discussions with the client we considered whether it would be more economical and logical to demolish the existing building and build afresh without the hangover of the previous incarnation. However, our gut feeling from the outset was that we could utilise the existing ground and first floor structure.

Early site investigations revealed that through careful consideration of the structural solution we could employ the existing foundations without underpinning or adapting the footings. We subsequently calculated that by retaining and adapting we were able to re-use 12,670 bricks and appr...