Back to black

Dramatic black finishes and industrial touches add impact to Charlotte and Sam Tisdall's extended end-terrace home

- Debbie Jeffery

Architect Sam Tisdall had been hoping to find somewhere unique for his family's next home. But when he found this property he was fairly underwhelmed. "Charlotte was a fan, though," Sam says of his wife's opinion, "and we were drawn to this part of west London, so we decided to try to make the most of what was essentially a typical end-terrace Victorian property." So the couple moved in just two months before their second daughter was born in 2011.

Over a period of several years, the couple modified the narrow building, creating a new 34m2 basement level in 2015, remodelling the garden, and building a 10m² side return extension in 2021, which opened up the kitchen to the rear.

POSING QUESTIONS

A condition of the basement work-which was required by the local authority-was to address historically contaminated land issues within the rear garden. This meant excavating and replacing topsoil. While the added cost was unwelcome, it provided an opportunity to think about the design of the garden and rear extension as one. Externally, the doors and windows are stained black. The same colour palette extends outside to the timber cladding of the extension and the herringbone paving and burnt oak setts in the garden.