London, England

A full refurbishment and extension of an early Victorian terrace, this project is guided by restraint — not erasure. The inherited character of the house is allowed to remain legible beneath a new, carefully weighted material palette. Nothing shouts; textures are composed rather than applied, surfaces are designed to sit in time, not fight it — the result is a home that reads as contemporary without severing its lineage, a study in quiet elegance. At its centre: Re:claimed Antique European Oak — circa 250–300 years of lived history drawn from antique European structures once animated by work and ritual. Time is visible in the softened grain and deepened tonality; the varied board widths — intentional, not incidental — let the timber behave like timber. A sculpted stair curve in the same oak becomes a moment of still drama — a piece of architecture that behaves like sculpture. The soft handover to microcement, the calm fall of light across the joint, the absence of fuss — these details are not added; they are revealed. Architect: Studio Tashima