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<\/p>\nLooking from the street, you could be forgiven for thinking that Robin Cassidy\u2019s home was a typical Victorian terraced house. With its brickwork exterior, bay windows and tiled roof, it looks just like all its neighbours in south London\u2019s East Dulwich. It\u2019s only when you step inside that you realise the entire rear of the building has been transformed into a bright, spacious picture of contemporary architecture.<\/p>\n
Separating the old and new \u2013 the front rooms, with their original proportions, from the modern back \u2013 is an open space that reaches the full height of the house. The only structure here is a\u00a0steel walkway, drilled with tiny holes, through which natural light filters from a series of skylights high above. Getting the biggest of these windows up to the roof was \u201ca\u00a0big effort\u201d, says Cassidy, peering upwards. \u201cIt came with a disclaimer: if you get something this size, four times out of 10 it breaks while installing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ben Edgley, co-founder of ConForm Architects, the practice behind the renovation, says this central space was the key to the project. \u201cThat split in the middle helps distinguish the two zones, but keeps them connected.\u201d<\/p>\n
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To understand why the renovation looks the way it does, you first have to understand Cassidy\u2019s family story. He moved into the house in 2009 with his wife, Liz, and their two young sons. \u201cThis was the first house where we really put down roots,\u201d he says. But only months after the move, Liz was diagnosed with breast cancer and, after several years of treatment (Cassidy says she was \u201cnot just brave and courageous, but serene\u201d), she passed away. Their sons\u00a0were just three and five years old. \u201cI threw myself into my responsibilities,\u201d Cassidy says. \u201cWhich were the children, and being a good example, conducting myself really well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cassidy\u2019s sons are teenagers now: the youngest is 16; the eldest has just started university. \u201cThe boys are my inspiration,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019ve turned out extremely well.\u201d And with his sons now more grownup, he allowed himself to undertake the renovation of his dreams. \u201cDoing the house was something for myself,\u201d he says. \u201cA reward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their shifting family dynamic has influenced the design of the home. Cassidy describes their set-up as like \u201cthe Three Musketeers. We work around each other symbiotically. We just have a way of orchestrating our life together very smoothly.\u201d He wanted all three of them to have privacy, but at the same time for their separate spaces to feel connected. There aren\u2019t many doors in the house, which gives it that sense of permeability.<\/p>\n
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The boys\u2019 rooms are at the top of the house, where they also have a \u201cpod room\u201d with a TV and sofa. \u201cIt\u2019s like an apartment for them,\u201d says Cassidy. \u201cThey\u2019re nicely contained up there.\u201d Yet, the openness of the design means they can \u201chear what each other is doing without disturbing one another,\u201d he explains. \u201cWhatever we\u2019re doing, we\u2019re together, not locked away in a room somewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aesthetically, the house is minimalist and almost unnervingly immaculate. There is zero clutter and only a few carefully selected pieces of furniture: a\u00a0low-slung Tufty-Time sofa from B&B Italia and a pair of Vipp armchairs in the living room, and in the dining room an Imo oak bench from Pinch and a\u00a0Heerenhuis dining table. Partly, this too is\u00a0a reflection of his sons\u2019 ages. When they were younger \u201cthe house was never this pristine,\u201d Cassidy says. There were always indoor hockey and basketball games going on. \u201cWe ran it into the ground,\u201d he laughs. Now, he\u2019s given himself licence to impose his own taste.<\/p>\n
But the pared-back look also reflects the role the home plays in their lives. \u201cI\u00a0have quite a stressful job at times,\u201d Cassidy says. (He works in banking.) His kids, too, play a lot of sports and are \u201cpushed pretty hard\u201d at school, so when they are at home, they need it to be a\u00a0place where they can \u201crest, decompress, switch off\u201d. The lack of clutter, the clean lines, the limited palette of materials, all contribute to creating a peaceful atmosphere.<\/p>\n
Aesthetically, the house is minimalist and almost unnervingly immaculate. There is zero clutterAesthetically, the house is minimalist and almost unnervingly immaculate. There is zero clutter<\/p>\n
Cassidy came across ConForm\u2019s work while researching the project and he felt the firm\u2019s more minimalist style was close to his own. Early on, he showed Edgley a Pinterest board with years of built-up visual research and references. \u201cIt was a great way to fast-forward probably a\u00a0dozen conversations,\u201d Cassidy\u00a0says.<\/p>\n
When it came to the interiors, Edgley was focused on maintaining a\u00a0\u201ccontrolled palette of materials\u201d that included the Italian stone Ceppo di Gr\u00e9, white-painted brick and steel, dark grey concrete beams, and oak. \u201cThe timber brings it all together,\u201d he says. \u201cYou feel the warmth and opulence of the oak, because\u00a0of the rawness and coldness of the concrete and steel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite that consistency, different spaces have different atmospheres. In the downstairs living room, the walls are lined with oak, which risked pushing that warmth to its limits. (\u201cYou don\u2019t want it to end up looking like a sauna,\u201d says Cassidy.) To avoid this, a series of grooves were added. \u201cThat elevates it, makes it more contemporary, and draws your eye to the rhythm,\u201d says Edgley.<\/p>\n
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Meanwhile, the first-floor workspace \u2013 which overlooks the kitchen \u2013 feels more industrial, with white-washed bricks and heavy grey concrete. \u201cIt has a raw feeling,\u201d says Edgley, \u201calmost as if you are outside.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cassidy and his sons moved back in post-renovation, in July 2024. They\u2019ve lived in it now for around 18 months. Cassidy spent about seven years planning and saving for the work, and clearly now takes enormous pride in the outcome. \u201cWhen you\u2019re given something, you don\u2019t appreciate it as much as when you really have to earn it and be patient. And I have for a long time,\u201d he says. \u201cAs you can probably see, I put so much into it. Now I deserve to enjoy it, and now is a good time to enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n
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