Studio McW has won planning approval for a series of high-quality alterations and extensions to Fenland House in Cambridgeshire – the scheme creates a low-impact home that enhances the property’s suitability for modern family life while preserving the architectural integrity of the original 1937 Art Deco dwelling and its rural setting.

The works replace poor-quality ad-hoc additions with new ground and first floor extensions and a sympathetic internal reconfiguration, and a collaborative landscaping strategy. In addition a 2,500-square-foot timber-clad guest annexe will provide accommodation for the client’s family members, making the property suitable for multi-generational living.

The design strengthens the home’s relationship with its gardens and surrounding landscape. A double-height atrium, created by borrowing floor area from the upper levels, maximises views of the rear garden while supporting passive heating and cooling. The new extensions respond to and celebrate the inherent symmetry of the rear façade and the asymmetry of the front.

Studio McW have been instructed to work on initial designs for a pavilion in the rear courtyard of an office space on a market street by Waterloo station of which both influenced the design. The structure was commissioned to accommodate extra break out spaces for the office workers and allow for a space that could host events.

Studio McW have been working on concept diagrams and sketch renders for the reworking of a unique multi-level coach house in Hampstead. The proposal introduces a large side extension to draw circulation and services out of the original footprint – freeing-up the main house (and the new basement) to become a sequence of interconnected split-level spaces for living, cooking and gathering as a family.

Hampstead is an area rooted in artists. Figures such as Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, informed the facade studies including the latter’s relief studies, exploring composition, materiality, apertures, and the subtle interplay of light and shadow on planar surfaces.