McGarry-Moon has transformed a dilapidated London cottage in south-west London

Photos
Adam Currie

Dating from the mid-nineteenth century, Warren Cottage once marked the entrance to Richmond Park, south-west London. Occupying a spacious and mature garden, the gatehouse is a designated building of townscape merit within the Coombe Wood conservation area. The formerly dilapidated structure has been  extensively renovated and extended into a contemporary six-bedroom family home by McGarry-Moon Architects.

The 248-square-metre extension is arranged over two floors and comprises four interlinked structures. Clad in glass but shaded from the sun by closely-spaced vertical timber louvres, a double-height kitchen and dining space adjoins the south-west corner of the cottage. On the north-west side of the kitchen is rectangular, two-storey volume containing bedrooms and a utility space. Partly clad with horizontally-laid timber boards, the structure defines a small courtyard to the north and frames a single tree.

Access to the square-shaped lounge is from the corner of the dining space. Large sliding doors open out onto a south-facing paved courtyard. A narrow pool separates the lounge from an L-shaped garden room located in the south corner of the site. Conceived as a self-contained retreat, the garden room is approached beneath a louvred timber walkway and looks out on a number of mature trees.

A restrained palette of materials includes board-marked precast concrete walls, iroko glulam beams and columns, hardwood floors, and black stained timber doors and windows. In environmental terms, the concrete walls and floors provide thermal mass, while green roofs used throughout the scheme reduce water run-off and filter pollutants.

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