nnU House

nnU House
© Marcus Peel

nnU House

Studio Jayga Architects

KITCHEN MANUFACTURER
Sheraton Interiors

MANUFACTURER
Art Steel, Diespeker

MANUFACTURERS
Diespeker & Co, Lusso Stone, Kes Lighting, Pooky

PHOTOGRAPHS
Marcus Peel

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
Abul Mahdi

CONTRACTOR
Capital Homes

VISUALIZATION
Rahmita Lubis

AREA
41 m²

PROJECT MANAGER
Abul Mahdi

CATEGORY
Houses, Extension

YEAR
2021

LOCATION
Loughton, United Kingdom

Text description provided by architect.

The new kitchen extension has been designed by Studio Jayga Architects for a young family with demanding city careers in Loughton, Essex UK.

nnU House
© Marcus Peel
nnU House
© Marcus Peel

The ground floor of the 1930s semi-detached property was completely reconfigured, including a brand new kitchen extension. The brief entailed creating a space for modern-day, open-plan living with a strong connection to the 300 ft long beautiful garden.

The ground floor of the original house consisted of three spaces towards the back, including a dated narrow kitchen, a cramped windowless living room, and a 1980s extension serving as the dining room.

The rooms all sat on one level, nearly a meter above the garden, with only a set of steep steps providing access to the garden.

nnU House
© Marcus Peel
nnU House
© Marcus Peel
nnU House
© Marcus Peel

There was a further imposing outbuilding located very close to the house, which obscured the view of the garden and reduced natural daylight internally.

We proposed the demolition of the outbuilding and reconfigured the three spaces at the back with a new rear extension, to create a split-level design connected with internal steps.

This enabled the new kitchen floor to be level with the outside. A pair of metal arched doors provides a direct physical and visual connection to the garden without any level changes.

nnU House
© Marcus Peel
nnU House
© Marcus Peel

A linear roof light has been designed between the existing house and a new extension linking the two internal spaces and allowing natural light into the centre of the house.

The up-and-over frameless glass box has been designed as a unique curved window seat. It cantilevers out and provides uninterrupted views out into the garden and up into the sky.

nnU House
© Marcus Peel
nnU House
© Marcus Peel

It is a great place to sit throughout the year and also allows natural daylight to flood the dining table below. The bespoke kitchen units and island was designed by Studio Jayga Architects to echo the soft curves of the arched doors and curved glass box.

The elliptical island is wrapped around with curved flutes and finished off with a colourful terrazzo worktop. Wall units are full height to maximise the amount of storage provided. Natural colour tones have been used to compliment and bring the colours of the garden in.

nnU House
© Marcus Peel
nnU House
© Marcus Peel

The external envelope of the extension has been cladded with timber which has been charred on-site, using the ancient Japanese technique of ‘shou-sugi-ban’.

NnU House is named in line with the geometric shapes of the two arched doors (‘nn’) and the up-and-over glass box (‘U’) when viewing the house from the garden.

nnU House
© Marcus Peel



nnU House
© Marcus Peel
nnU House
© Marcus Peel
nnU House
© Marcus Peel
nnU House
© Marcus Peel
nnU House
© Marcus Peel


nnU House
Plan after

nnU House
Plan before