HOUSE EXTENSION ,

LONDON
ARCHITECT
ALISON B ROOKS
ASSOCIATES

1
The new glass and
patinated brass
pavilion tactfully
extends an existing
Victorian house.

Brass origami

Delicate planes of patinated brass fold around this

imaginative extension to a house in south London.

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Trinity Road in south London is

a typical leafy Victorian suburb.
Stolid brick houses with bay
windows and big gardens exude an
air of decorousness and prosperity.
Yet even in a sleepy conservation
area the urge to remodel is quite
common. Here, however, Alison
Brooks attempts something
rather different. Commissioned
to extend a Victorian house as
part of a larger remodelling, she
saw it as a chance to experiment,
both with form and materials.
More specically, it intensies her
investigations into the use of metal
that began when she worked with
Ron Arad in the early 90s, and the
idea of continuity manipulating
a single architectural material to
perform a multitude of functions,
so that spaces are wrapped and
tend to de-materialise.
The extension opens up the
house to rear, consolidating its
relationship with the large garden.
Brooks was adamant that the new
architecture should not compete
with the robust character of the
existing Victoriana, so her tactic is
to make the addition as intangible
and ethereal as possible. But the
outcome is not the stereotypical
glass box. Instead, lightness is
expressed through a single planar
skin of patinated brass that is
apparently cut and folded to form
walls, roof, columns and benches.
The exquisitely thin brass planes
enclose a new kitchen, dining
room and external terrace, as well
as framing and ltering views to
the garden beyond.
Though the crisp, orthogonal
geometry was derived from simply
folding a piece of cardboard, the
actual construction was inevitably
more complex and crafted. The
richly patinated brass panels are,
in fact, supported by a slim steel
structure. Cor-ten was initially
considered for the cladding, but
it tends to bleed and stain before
the coating of rust nally stabilises.
By contrast, the patination of brass
is gentler and its effects can be
more closely controlled. Though
not commonly used as a cladding
material, brass is also harder
(stiffer) than its closest relative
copper, and more economical.
Brooks likens the construction
process to the fabrication of a
large-scale piece of jewellery. The
3mm thin sheets of raw brass

ar house

2
The pavilion is conceived as a
series of thin folded planes.
3
Pared down architectural
language does not attempt to
compete with original house.
4
Views through to garden are
framed and defined.
5
Mounted on a slim steel substructure, the brass planes are
only 60mm thick.
2

were cut and folded in a specialist

metal fabrication workshop and
temporarily assembled on site.
The panels were then dismantled
and removed to be patinated by
hand.Varying the effects of acid
and heat generates different hues,
from pale blue to deep turquoise,
but the patina also responds to
the daily effects of the weather,
so the panels have a genuinely
chameleon-like quality. Finally, the
patinated pieces were carefully
reassembled. Full-height glazing
adds to the sense of lightness and
seamlessness and the composition
is anchored by charcoal grey
porcelain oor tiles.

Thinness is another crucial

aspect of this language of elegant
abstraction. The brass panel
constructions are only 60mm thick
and, as the pavilion is seen from
the upper storeys of the house,
its roof is also a rigorously pared
down structure, with an upstand
reduced to 50mm from the more
usual 150mm.
Though the pavilion is a
meticulously crafted oneoff, Brooks sees it as a useful
prototype which feeds
into an ongoing process of
experimentation and discovery.
The practice is working on a
major housing development

in Cambridge and plans to

incorporate off-the-peg brass
cladding panels (developed by
copper specialists KME) in a sixstorey apartment block. In an era
besotted by conspicuous gestures,
it is especially pleasing to see
humble or disregarded materials
used imaginatively. Brooks
architecture has always reected a
concern for making and materials,
and her latest project consolidates
this lineage. CATHERINE SLESSOR
Architect
Alison Brooks Associates, London
Metal fabrication
John Desmond
Photographs
Dennis Gilbert/VIEW

diagram of folding process

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4
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7
8
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cross section

entrance
hall
wc
dining room
living room
kitchen
dining pavilion
terrace
magnolia tree

long section

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site plan

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HOUSE EXTENSION , L ONDON

ARCHITECT
ALISON BROOKS A SSOCIATES

ground floor plan (scale approx 1:200)