{"id":39469,"date":"2026-05-18T06:56:36","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T06:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/39469\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T06:56:36","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T06:56:36","slug":"house-of-em-adds-light-filled-loggia-to-north-london-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/39469\/","title":{"rendered":"House of EM adds light-filled “loggia” to north-London home"},"content":{"rendered":"

Architecture office House of EM has modernised a terraced house in north London<\/a>, adding a sunken rear extension<\/a> that can be opened up to create a flexible indoor-outdoor living space.<\/p>\n

The studio<\/a>, headed by former Michaelis Boyd<\/a> directors Emma Bodie and Matthew Sanders, designed Loggia House for a young family of four.<\/p>\n

\"HouseHouse of EM has modernised a terraced house in north London<\/p>\n

The project involved renovating a two-storey property in Kensal Rise and adding a ground-floor extension that helps to maximise the connection between the house and garden.<\/p>\n

The extension was constructed using prefabricated concrete panels that House of EM developed in collaboration with the contractor to deliver a bespoke colour and texture.<\/p>\n

\"Concrete-linedThe extension features a concrete-lined snug<\/p>\n

The structure is complemented by bands of brick around the base and the top that add cohesion to the elevation.<\/p>\n

The existing interior featured small, compartmentalised rooms connected by a long corridor, which the studio remodelled to create “a light-filled, open-plan interior” that is better suited to the family’s lifestyle.<\/p>\n

\"Kitchen\"The kitchen sits just above the snug<\/p>\n

Living spaces at the front were retained to preserve the building’s original character, while a series of impractical U-PVC extensions at the rear were removed to make way for the new addition.<\/p>\n

The extension was lowered approximately 500 millimetres below the main floor to create a defined threshold between the kitchen and an intimate, concrete-lined snug.<\/p>\n

\"LivingLiving spaces at the front of the house were retained to preserve the building’s original character<\/p>\n

The architects named the project after this “loggia” space, which is lined with large sliding windows that can retract to transform the room into a covered outdoor area.<\/p>\n

“By lowering the level, the loggia becomes a distinct zone in its own right, giving it the feeling of a separate room, while still maintaining a strong visual connection to the surrounding family spaces,” Bodie and Sanders told Dezeen.<\/p>\n

\"DiningThe reconfigured layout supports social interaction<\/p>\n

The reconfigured layout supports social interaction, providing a flexible environment for dining, relaxing and playing that flows seamlessly between indoors and outdoors.<\/p>\n

The loggia’s design was informed by the clients’ passion for Scandinavian and Brazilian design, with key references including the work of modernist architects such as Lina Bo Bardi<\/a> and Paulo Mendes da Rocha<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"SpaciousA spacious bedroom features upstairs<\/p>\n

A material palette centred around concrete and timber takes its cues from Brazilian brutalist architecture, balancing the warmth and tactility of stained-oak joinery against the solidity of the concrete structure.<\/p>\n

The clients’ request for bright and open living spaces prompted the decision to introduce high ceilings, large openings and skylights that allow natural light to reach deep into the plan.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Ribbon<\/p>\n

Will Gamble Architects frames Ribbon House extension with weathered steel\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

On the first floor, a former bedroom and bathroom were combined to create a large family bathroom, while the rear bedroom’s ceiling was raised to the eaves to lend this space a more generous feel.<\/p>\n

According to the architects, the project represents an experimental take on the typical London extension, with surprising material choices and a tailored spatial layout contributing to a cohesive, contemporary solution.<\/p>\n

\"LargeA former bedroom and bathroom were combined to create a large family bathroom<\/p>\n

“Bold and unusual for a London extension, particularly in Kensal Rise, the design responds directly to the client’s brief and vision,” they added.<\/p>\n

“Together, these elements create a flow of interiors that feel truly unique, considered and unexpected.”<\/p>\n

\"HouseThe architects called the design “bold and unusual for a London extension”<\/p>\n

Bodie and Sanders founded House of EM in 2020, having collaborated for several years during their time with architecture firm Michaelis Boyd.<\/p>\n

The studio focuses on delivering bold and grounded residential and commercial projects, including a leaf-shaped home<\/a> in the Cotswolds and a Moxy hotel<\/a> in New York City.<\/p>\n

The photography is by Henry Woide<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Architecture office House of EM has modernised a terraced house in north London, adding a sunken rear extension…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39470,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[173,5274,27,535,534,5276,538,540,541,1935,5],"class_list":{"0":"post-39469","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-england","9":"tag-houses","10":"tag-london","11":"tag-london-house-extensions","12":"tag-london-houses","13":"tag-renovations","14":"tag-residential-extensions","15":"tag-sectionall","16":"tag-sectionarchitecture","17":"tag-sectioninteriors","18":"tag-uk"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116594277616697126","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39469\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}