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Waffle House

Bureau de Change renovated an old building in London using a big “waffle-shaped” slab that serves to define spaces and to host the planters of a roof garden.

Bureau de Change, Slab House, London 2016

Bureau de Change renovated the interior of an old building in London, where the focal point is a concrete “waffle-shaped” roof, that connects the interiors with the garden. Its particular shape derives from the need for rooftop planting.

Bureau de Change, Slab House, London 2016

Bureau de Change, Slab House, London 2016

Bureau de Change, Slab House, London 2016

Once grown, roof greenery softens the volume, establishing a connection with the leafy surroundings and creates pleasing views from the floors above. From the garden, the roof trenches are out of sight, giving the immediate effect of a simple concrete slab, which contrasts with the texture of the original building.

The rhythm of the beams offers a practical position for a substantial skylight that traverses the full width of the extension. This strip of natural light illuminates the kitchen, which would otherwise be overcast by its position, set back within the footprint of the original house. Although the living and kitchen areas are open plan, a selective palette of materials has been used to visually define these spaces and create an atmospheric contrast.

In the living area, the materiality of the ceiling is echoed in concrete flooring, while the boundary of the kitchen is marked graphically, by a transition into rich monochromatic blue that floods the surfaces of the space.

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Bureau de Change, Slab House, floor plan

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Bureau de Change, Slab House, section

Slab House, London, UK
Program: house renovation
Architects: Bureau de Change Architects
Team: Billy Mavropoulos, Katerina Dionysopoulou
Area: 50 sqm
Engineering: FTF Designs Ltd.
Construction: Stec construction
Landscape: Joh Bates Studio
Completion: 2016

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Waffle House

Bureau de Change renovated an old building in London using a big “waffle-shaped” slab that serves to define spaces and to host the planters of a roof garden.

A-p-00.dgn

A-s-03.dgn

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