@darrenoldfieldarchitects
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Next up on hot week - green roofs! We love them for their aesthetics and ecologocial benefits, but they have a real benefit in managing internal temperatures.
The wildflower roofs we use have a minimum of 100mm of growing medium or soil. This mass is great at absorbing solar energy and preventing it from radiating through into the house.
This example in East Dulwich was installed in 2015 and is still going strong!
@guylockwoodphotography
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Jun 16
Ooh it’s hot! 🥵 This week we’re sharing a few of our tips on how we handle the heat, without reaching for the A/C. First up - #ventilation
The hallway from our Shakespeare Road project is a great example of one of our most used devices - the opening stairwell skylight. Whilst providing key daylight and volume (two things we love) it also creates something called stack effect ventilation.
As the house heats up, hot air escaping from the skylight draws cooler air in ...
Jun 15
**NEWSLETTER DROP**
Click on the link in our bio to have a read. We've got pretty photos of recent projects, architecture materials nerdery and new house commissions to talk about.
If you'd like to stay up to date with our quarterly news, DM us your email address and we'll add you to our list.
Jun 14
Thinking about this gorgeous setup in Highgate: high skylights, tall glazed sliding doors, bringing the summer indoors. What could be better on a June evening?
Jun 9
Another site update - this one in Peckham, where our lovely black glazed brickwork is starting to take shape.
The feature window to the right will be wrapped in a matching anthracite zinc. Lovely sliding glass crittall doors to come!
#sitelife #onsite #construction #peckham #se15 #glazedbricks #bricks #londonarchitecture #dontmoveimprove #extension #refurb #southlondon
#renovation #comingsoon #refurbishment
#architecture #builder ...
Jun 8
Monday show and tell! These two little snippet videos are from our recent site visit to our Denmark Hill project.
We're really pleased to see the smooth clean angles of the vaulted roof lights taking shape on the inside. The end wall is still waiting for its full-height glazed sliding doors, so there are a temporary set of doors and windows until the real thing arrives.
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#underconstruction #onsite #construction #architecture ...
Jun 7
Our last of this week's posts on indoors-outdoors connections comes care of a project we worked on with @do_design_studio a few years back.
To meet the needs of a growing family, we lowered and extended the ground floor to create a warm-toned, naturally lit dining space beyond the kitchen.
The ultra-thin glazed, tall sliding doors lead the eye out into the garden, whose grey timber decking complements the greys in the interior terrazzo flooring.
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Jun 5
Though we are based in South London, we work all over the South-East, and further afield (we were recently commissioned for a project north of Inverness!)
But when we work closer to home in hilly South London, we're quite often called to deal with sloping sites!
In this project in Forest Hill, we were asked to design a rear extension that was about 1.5 metres above garden level. We designed an extension that continued the interior floor level outside, leading...
Jun 4
This calming connection to the outdoors is a different approach to the project we posted earlier today.
Tasked with extending this home in Clapham, South London, our clients also wanted bring the garden closer in. The rear extension fills in part of the side return of this Victorian terrace, but allows for the garden to extend down the remaining corridor outside. The lightweight glass extension to the side connects to this lovely side-garden.
The furthest part of ...
Jun 3
Window seats! A very popular topic, and we couldn't miss them our on our tour of indoors-outdoors connections this week. These images are from one of our most asked-about projects, a wraparound rear extension in Herne Hill.
When space is tight, an oriel window or window seat is a useful design tool, making the most of the connection into garden (or a good view for that matter!)
In this project, we framed the window with zinc cladding, and linked it seamlessly ...
Jun 3
Day two of our week's theme on outdoors-indoors connections brings us to our recent project in Highgate.
On wider properties we try to break up the elevation (architecture-speak for how the outside looks). Rather than meeting the eye with one solid wall of glass or a single material, we vary the levels and heights of our projects, using a limited range of materials. This creates more interest in the overall composition: much like sculpture or painting benefits from ...
Jun 2
The sun is out! It's summer! And this week we're looking at that lovely indoors-outdoors connection that makes a home sing on summer evenings. Over the years we've come up with some thoughtful ways to tackle this weather-sensitive issue! And today is all about the disappearing doors...
In this project in Peckham, we devised different size openings in a rear extension, reflecting the different parts of the space within. A single sliding glazed pocket door leads...
Jun 1
Happy Bank Holiday Monday! Hope you're having a gorgeous, sunny time, whatever you're up to. This sunny postcard is care of a garden studio in Streatham, South London, which we completed with @do_design_studio back in 2017. Perfect spot for lazy afternoon sprawling.
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#sunshine #summer #instagood #weekend
#bankholidayweekend #london #longweekend #bankholidaymonday #gardenstudio
#artstudio #aroomofonesown #creative #backyardstudio ...
May 31
We've recently been commissioned for some more bespoke new build homes. One of them is a pre-fabricated eco-home on a tight, restricted site in South-East London. The other is right at the opposite end of the spectrum: a large contemporary sustainably-developed house in the North Wessex Downs.
To celebrate these, we're sharing a couple of 3D models from our #newbuild project in Kent. The gorgeous tree-filed sloping site is at the top of a hill adjoining the Downe ...
May 29
Today's #workinprogress sketch is in East Acton (West London, confusingly!) We're fully renovating and extending a somewhat tired 1930s council house.
Sometimes moving the staircase in a property really unlocks its potential. And this is certainly the case here! Our proposed, more compact staircase, coupled with a relocated entrance, makes better sense of the awkward existing ground floor layout.
By increasing circulation, it also makes room ...
May 27
**ARCHITECTURE NERD ALERT!** On our quest to make architecture a little clearer, we're sharing a few more images (swipe left!) of detailed tender drawings for our recent project in Wandsworth, South London.
A few weeks ago we posted this lovely 3D sketch design, which sailed through planning in March this year.
Every time we're commissioned, our design process goes through several stages. The early stages involve sketching an initial design ...
May 26
Which one??
We were commissioned to overhaul and reconfigure the ground floor of this Edwardian terrace in South London, including its rather tired-looking 1990s gabled rear extension (swipe left to the third image for a before-photo)
Without increasing the property's footprint, or wholesale demolition, we're injecting more balance and character to the extension with some lovely Crittall windows and a reconfigured ground floor.
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May 25
Those of you who've been following us for a while will know how much we love yellow! We couldn't resist adding yellow cladding to the chimney breast of this sketch for a recent Scottish commission. Swipe left for more images.
We were asked to take on this project near Elgin in Inverness-shire, Scotland after our client's previous architect failed to deliver on the brief.
Our overall aim is to sympathetically redesign and extend the ...
May 24
We live and breathe architecture (of course)! But as a small practice, we also know that architecture can sometimes seem aloof and difficult to understand for people thinking about their own projects for the first time. And beautiful images of perfect finished projects don't always tell the whole story.
A few weeks ago we posted about our project in Tulse Hill, South London. We needed to come up with some quick solutions when, sadly, the original slate cladding on the ...
May 22
A totally gratuitous #bathroom shot from one of our recently completed projects. We love the palette of materials here, from brass @samuelheathofficial fittings, to herringbone-laid marbled porcelain, dark wood and verdigris honeycomb mosaic tile, and the warm browns of the @farrowandball paint.
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Photography @guylockwoodphotography
Contractor and joinery @pasklondon
Bathroom hardware @cphartbathrooms
Tiling @mandarinstoneofficial
May 20
We posted a gorgeous #yellow version of our model for our clients' new garden room last week, which we loved!
Sadly we then found out the steel manufacturer would need a minimum order of about 12 tonnes of steel - enough to cover 2500 sqm! Back to the drawing board we went, and came up with this lovely copper verdigris option.
We put it up for a vote on our stories, and 84% of you voted YES! So here we are: even though it's no longer yellow, this little ...
May 19
We're delighted to toot our horn about being featured in a **13 page spread** in the June edition of @goodhomesmag.
We designed and refurbished the South London home of our lovely client @janemcc21 without extending the footprint of the house.
Brilliant journalist @janecrittenden says: "Jane's enviable kitchen is fresh and light and reminds her of Melbourne's cafe culture where they used to live."
Click on ...
May 18
Good afternoon! And hello new followers! Lovely to meet you.
To those of you who've just arrived, we thought we'd introduce the faces behind the Darren Oldfield Architects team.
Darren, our Director, began the practice in 2013. After receiving his architectural qualifications from Nottingham and Sheffield Hallam, Darren worked for award-winning practices in Nottingham, London and Cambridge, with a focus on sustainability and innovative ...
May 17
We're finishing up our tour of this refurbished and reconfigured Georgian townhouse with our work on the lower ground floor: the fully reconfigured kitchen-diner. Again, the style is understated, designed to respect the period qualities of this Grade II listed home, while bringing it up to date with modern living.
The Roundhouse kitchen and wooden parquet sit unobtrusively within the space, which draws in warm light from the French doors that open onto the garden (swipe...
May 15
