Chelsea Town House by Moxon Architects
London-based Moxon Architects has completed a contemporary glazed extension to this Grade II listed town house in south-west London.
![Chelsea Town House by Moxon Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/07/dezeen_Chelsea-Town-House-by-Moxon-Architects_1sq.jpg)
Moxon Architects added a new top floor to the house and a rear extension on the lower ground floor to increase the total volume by more than a quarter.
They transformed the property by removing internal partitions and reconfiguring the layout, creating fewer rooms that provide larger open-plan living spaces.
![Chelsea Town House by Moxon Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/07/dezeen_Chelsea-Town-House-by-Moxon-Architects_5.jpg)
"The driver for this scheme has been to treat the existing structure as a geometric guide for the setting out of new material and spatial interventions," the architects said.
![dezeen_Chelsea Town House by Moxon Architects_11](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/07/dezeen_Chelsea-Town-House-by-Moxon-Architects_11.jpg)
A two-storey atrium brings natural light into the lower ground floor and contains a limed oak staircase.
![Chelsea Town House by Moxon Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/07/dezeen_Chelsea-Town-House-by-Moxon-Architects_9.jpg)
The staircase has an inbuilt library, retractable writing desk, secret compartments and library steps.
![dezeen_Chelsea Town House by Moxon Architects_4](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/07/dezeen_Chelsea-Town-House-by-Moxon-Architects_4.jpg)
The lower ground floor opens onto a rear courtyard garden.
![Chelsea Town House by Moxon Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/07/dezeen_Chelsea-Town-House-by-Moxon-Architects_3.jpg)
Moxon Architects has previously converted a former coach house and concealed it behind a steel fence with recesses for climbing plants.
![Chelsea Town House by Moxon Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/07/dezeen_Chelsea-Town-House-by-Moxon-Architects_2.jpg)
Other residential renovations we've featured recently include a converted loft space with combined staircase and bookshelf, and a crumbling stone stable that's been converted into a family home in Spain.
Photography is by Simon Kennedy.
Here's more information from Moxon Architects:
Chelsea Town House
Moxon Architects have completed a grade 2 listed house conversion in Chelsea. The driver for this scheme has been to treat the existing structure as a geometric guide for the setting out of new material and spatial interventions.
![Chelsea Town House by Moxon Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/07/dezeen_Chelsea-Town-House-by-Moxon-Architects_6.jpg)
The space has been radically reconfigured throughout, to provide a fewer number of larger and better rooms, with additions to the top and bottom of the house increasing its volume by over a quarter.
![Chelsea Town House by Moxon Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/07/dezeen_Chelsea-Town-House-by-Moxon-Architects_7.jpg)
The original structure is retained internally as traces within the new layout – differential materials and finishes follow the extents of the previous structure across the walls, floors and ceilings of the new space.
![dezeen_Chelsea Town House by Moxon Architects_12](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/07/dezeen_Chelsea-Town-House-by-Moxon-Architects_12.jpg)
This geometry sets up a framework for the use of the space: circulation and use has been established within these geometric confines, whilst simultaneously the house has become lighter and more open, reflecting the needs of the client.
![dezeen_Chelsea Town House by Moxon Architects_14](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/07/dezeen_Chelsea-Town-House-by-Moxon-Architects_14.jpg)
The limed oak staircase overlooks a new double height which brings light deep into the lower ground floor and includes a high level library, pull out writing desk, secret compartments and library steps.
![Chelsea Town House by Moxon Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/07/dezeen_Chelsea-Town-House-by-Moxon-Architects_15.gif)
![Chelsea Town House by Moxon Architects](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2013/07/dezeen_Chelsea-Town-House-by-Moxon-Architects_16.gif)