Connected and Open – Dulwich Hill House by Nobbs Radford Architects

Responding to the natural movement within the existing home, Dulwich Hill House expands on an established rhythm, creating a meaningful meeting place for the old and new to convene. Nobbs Radford Architects draws from the existing formal and natural cues to propose the addition as a facilitator to celebrate connection.

Nestled into its namesake, Dulwich Hill House is the completion of an unfinished story. The fragmentary chapters of the home needed a shared sense of connection and through interrogating the existing conditions, the site itself and the established build elements, the new is proposed as a collective response. As a place to bring occupants together, the new volumes fill internal spaces and become a bridge between the inside, the existing, the exterior and surrounding landscaping. The proportions of the home establish principles of openness and generosity, which are then carried through into the new. Nobbs Radford Architects works with the terrain and natural slope of the site to emphasise scale whilst maintaining a connection to the original.

The combined calming and muted tones used across the interior and the exterior are combined with more robust and low maintenance insertions, such as the polished concrete floor, as a response to the needs of family life.

Dulwich Hill House captures the spirit of what a home should be – a place to escape and recharge from the outside world. The combined calming and muted tones used across the interior and the exterior are combined with more robust and low maintenance insertions, such as the polished concrete floor, as a response to the needs of family life. The raked ceiling formation of the addition draws the eye upward, enhancing the actual scale and embedding a generosity into the space. Extending on from the original home, the addition weaves among the prevailing spaces and becomes a place of reprieve at the rear of the home.

Throughout the project, considered insertions integrate new gestures to overlay the same consideration as the addition. A cohesive approach was taken to connect the existing with the new and the interior to the landscaping. Opening and framing the surrounding landscape, large, glazed elements highlight the link between the built and the natural, incorporating greenery into the inside spaces. Integrating natural light further enhances the space as a place of escape, with openings aligned to optimise available orientation in response to the position of neighbouring properties.

Dulwich Hill House captures the spirit of what a home should be – a place to escape and recharge from the outside world.

Founded on principles of calm, Dulwich Hill House sets the scene for a relaxed and immersive residential experience. Nobbs Radford Architects combines a formal and informal approach in proposing an inviting and warm series of spaces.