ZigZag house in West London by MATA Architects

The project involves a modest rear extension to a 19th century mid terrace house and it’s comprehensive refurbishment together with the addition of a garden studio and external landscaping.

The client and architect on this project are one and the same, this being home to MATA’s director, Dan Marks and his family. Dan and his wife, Samantha, have lived in the house since 2009 with two children. Now reaching adolescence and early teen years, the children’s natural desire for greater autonomy and personal space (and the parent’s) was one of the main drivers behind the project. The refurbishment transformed the house from one with a single family bathroom used by all, to one where the parents and both children now have their own en-suite bathrooms. The garden room provides a separate place where children can entertain their friends. And the extension of the kitchen/ dining room provides space for a second, more informal, living room so that everyone has multiple options for finding both personal space and coming together as a family.

Use of colour and materials throughout the house has been limited to a palette of raw earthy and natural to foster a sense of calm. The rear extension is clad in a zigzagging pattern of triangular sections of charred Oak (‘Honshu’), whilst the garden room envelope is charred Larch battens (‘Takage’); both products of Sho Sugi Ban, the Japanese technique of sealing timber through charring. Hard landscaping of the courtyard garden is a large format contrasting tumbled Dijon Limestone.

The garden was treated conceptually as a courtyard space mediating between two opposing interior spaces; the kitchen/ dining room at the rear of the house and the garden studio, housing gym and kids TV/ gaming room. The design of the extension with large glazed sliding doors and level threshold aims to improve the kitchen/ dining space’s connection with the garden.