Dezeen Magazine

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

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

"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.

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A two-storey atrium brings natural light into the lower ground floor and contains a limed oak staircase.

Chelsea Town House by Moxon Architects

The staircase has an inbuilt library, retractable writing desk, secret compartments and library steps.

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The lower ground floor opens onto a rear courtyard garden.

Chelsea Town House by Moxon Architects

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

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

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

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.

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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.

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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
Basement plan - click for larger image
Chelsea Town House by Moxon Architects
Cross section - click for larger image