Long Brick House

Long Brick House sits near the Chilterns in Seer Green, where Bradley Van Der Straeten reworked a disjointed family home that had absorbed too many conversions and lost any sense of focus. Rather than demolish, the practice chose to transform: a new two-storey box wraps onto the rear of the existing house, separated from it by a glazed gap the practice calls a 'canyon of light'.

The new volume is clad in long grey Roman bricks, deliberately set against the original red brick to read as a distinct addition. A full-height glazed slot between old and new pulls daylight into the centre of the plan and opens views across the garden from the first-floor balcony. The relocated kitchen sits on the boundary between the two volumes, with a terrazzo island, brass worktop and splashback, and black MDF cupboard fronts framing the open-plan living and dining area.

Upstairs, the extension contains a master bedroom and en-suite that continue the palette of exposed long brick and timber roof structure. The en-suite is lined in terrazzo around a walk-in shower with garden views. A wide double-height circulation space links the new master suite to a new staircase, where the first tread is cut from a single block of terrazzo to act as a quiet 'jewel' step.

Smaller moments stitch the rest of the plan together: a snug carved from the former living room, a utility behind the kitchen, and a downstairs WC accented in bright orange fixtures.

Completed in 2018 across two storeys, the project was led by George Bradley and Ewald Van Der Straeten of Bradley Van Der Straeten, with photography by French & Tye.