Soothing colors, raw materials, textured finishes: Little Donyland

Located within the Dulwich Estate and Dulwich Wood Conservation Area, the neo-Georgian home is being expanded and renovated, showcasing an interior carefully designed with the client, capable of combining soothing colors, raw materials and textured surfaces

The original 1930s floor plan of the Little Donyland home would allow for generously sized rooms with good proportions, but the existing layout of the ground floor is difficult for Gruff's studio to deal it due to a disconnection between the hall and kitchen

By moving the staircase to the central location, the layout changes completely: the hallway opens up, revealing the magnificent oversized front door and the large first-floor window above, an entrance that befits the innate grandeur of this house

In addition to the renovation of the existing house, extensions are made. The kitchen space was originally divided into a few small, dark utility rooms: now the kitchen is consolidated and expanded

A small extension is also made on the dining room, with full-height windows offering views from both the kitchen and dining room to the garden. A slit skylight defines the extension and offers views of the garden and sky from the kitchen. The extension features special brown bricks specially made to create details with beveled edges and a characteristic "woven" corner wall

The similarities of the bricks chosen in both color and texture reference the browns and reds used in the original building, establishing the extension as a distinct piece of contemporary architecture