1 Pump House Close

The flat serves as primary residence of the client and his husband (the architect) and it is is situated within the historic Pump House Hydraulic Station in Rotherhithe, which underwent conversion into residential units approximately 25 years ago. Classified as Grade II, this structure stands as a remarkable representation of late Victorian industrial architecture, with construction completed in 1902.

Typically, house extensions involve altering the external volume of the building. In this instance, the 60% footprint extension has been achieved entirely within the existing volume. The Architect and the Client (his wife) agreed on the following target: - Adding an extra floor with bedroom and bathroom - Creating dedicated spaces for working from home. - Re-opening a side window to maximise natural light and ventilation - Creating storage space (totally missing at the beginning) - Improving energy efficiency. - enhancing its historical features. Besides the tight budget and the necessity of a time-effective programme with no room for delays, the Grade II Listing put a significant constraint especially from the structural point of view and to for the fire safety, as off-the-shelve solutions were not applicable in this case. Thanks to the effective collaboration between the architect, structural engineer, and main contractor the project has been completed in accordance with the specified design, within the agreed 12 weeks’ time frame, and without surpassing the allocated budget, diminishing the energy consumption by 50%.