C&J’s House

Location: Cambridge
Services: Architect, Interior Design, Contract Administration, Principle Designer
Completed: 2022
Principal Consultants: Anderson Engineers
Contractor: Self-build
Photography: Andy Heathcote

Transforming a tired 1980s home into a contemporary family retreat, a new face and a new flow, light, material and craft, continuity and calm.

This project reimagines a dated 1980s detached house into a warm, modern home with a strong connection to its garden. The brief was to create generous, light-filled living spaces and elevate the property’s street presence, turning an unremarkable suburban house into something timeless and refined.

The exterior was completely reworked with a new slate roof and vertical timber rainscreen cladding, transforming the building’s character and proportions. The elevation design reconsiders existing window openings to create balanced, harmonious façades. A new entrance sequence now offers a more welcoming approach and internal vistas that connect directly to the garden beyond.

Inside, the house was fully gutted and reconfigured. The open-plan kitchen, living and dining spaces centre around a large, crafted island: a social hub for cooking, dining and conversation. A sunken lounge enhances ceiling heights and frames views to the garden, while a corner window by the dining space draws in natural light and responds to the home’s north-west orientation.

Extensive joinery throughout was designed to echo the architectural rhythm of the exterior timber cladding, creating a cohesive aesthetic that blurs the threshold between inside and out. Natural materials, warm timber, soft stone and muted tones, bring a tactile quality and lasting sense of calm.