Ply House | midcentury renovation

South London midcentury terrace house built frugally but well, opened up for easy open-plan living and front-to-back garden views.

Ply House

Ply House
Walworth SE17

Planning | Detail design/specification | Joinery design | Statutory permissions | Services coordination | Furniture | Site supervision

Built on a bomb site in the mid 50s the house is part of a small estate of well-planned terraces and green spaces, close to shops, parks and transport and a good example of people-focused development.

Already well laid-out the with good daylight we made only minimal alteration for contemporary living: open-plan kitchen & dining with a dividing unit doubling as gathering place; new large format windows at either end replacing the beautiful but paper-thin original crittal frames, to bring front-to back light & outside views with added thermal and acoustic benefit; upstairs shower room and separate loo combined into a compact modern bathroom.

All-important storage is planned-in throughout with both custom joinery and adapted off-the-shelf systems unified with birch ply outer layers; and new materials follow our usual thinking – a warm combination of plaster, timber, cork, paint and tile all affordable, appropriate for the building and easy to look after.

Also a calm backdrop for a mix of furniture, art and objects acquired over time by the current household, neutral enough to suit successive owners with their own collections.

Photography Gareth Gardner