Ambient studio is a Hackney-based architectural firm that focuses on preserving the natural characteristics of older homes while using contemporary architectural techniques.
This has allowed Hackney residents to stay in their homes as their families grow or their requirements change.
Describing one recent project, architect and founding director Matthew Riley said: “A young family, Tam and Rhianna, wanted to stay in Stoke Newington rather than move out of London, but their Victorian mid-terrace was dark, chopped up and struggling to accommodate a growing family.
Ambient Studio reworked this Victorian house in Stoke Newington to allow its owners to remain in London (Image: Lorenzo Zandri & Ambient Studio)
“We worked with them to reconfigure and extend the house, turning a three-bedroom, one-bathroom terrace into a four-bedroom, three-bathroom home with a much stronger connection to their south-facing garden.”
The old Victorian shell was modified with upgraded insulation and glazing to make the shell more comfortable and energy-efficient without a need for demolition or rebuilding.
Mr Riley described the property “as a serene family home that hadn’t been modified for a long time, that needed better connected spaces”.
The bedroom after the house was redesigned (Image: Lorenzo Zandri & Ambient Studio)
He said: “We work with the character of a house, to harmonise the old and new. So, the best results can be achieved.
“We think about what is required from the property now, in five years and ten years. So we’re accommodating the future and don’t overstretch the home.”
The property was adapted using a stepped brick and class extension with a full-height glazing and an L-shaped rooflight, in order to bring lighter deeper into the property.
The Stoke Newington house was adapted using a stepped brick and class extension with a full-height glazing and an L-shaped rooflight (Image: Lorenzo Zandri & Ambient Studio)
The impact on a neighbour whose garden is about 1.5m lower was kept in mind whilst making these changes, so the impact was modest.
The project in Stoke Newington took slightly longer than normal, with around 18 months of a planning stage and nine months of building.
The brick and glass kitchen extension seen from the inside (Image: Lorenzo Zandri & Ambient Studio)
Mr Riley explained that it was important for architects to communicate with homeowners to ensure the best results for a project of this magnitude.
He said: “We use each client’s individuality and to make the project unique.
The redesigned bathroom combines original features with modern details (Image: Lorenzo Zandri & Ambient Studio)
“What the client wants to achieve is a part of our job, our job is not only design.”
After completing the project in Stoke Newington, the studio is now working on other projects in the neighbourhood, with one neighbour in the street behind looking to modify her five-to-six-bedroom property, to make two separate units in her home so that her daughter can live upstairs.
Mr Riley said: “It’s nice because the client gets looking at the commercial aspect of splitting the property, while keeping all the homeliness and sentimental value of their home of 30 years.”
This adaptation of existing features of Victorian-terraces in Hackney allows residents “who don’t have the skills” to unlock their properties to their full potential, allowing residents to increase the size and desirability of their properties, without being priced out of the borough when looking to expand their homes.