Ellerby Street Basement Extension
Throughout 2026 we will highlight projects that have been important in the development of the practice.
The first in this series is a basement extension in Ellerby Street in Fulham. We have gone on to design over 30 basement projects. Our basement in Ellerby Street captured a response to the key basement issues of the flow and connection between the basement and ground floor and the visual and physical connection between the interior and garden beyond, added to a sense of a contemporary light filled series of spaces.
At our Ellerby Street project all of the above comes together at the rear lightwell with a carefully composed and well detailed use of glass in a variety of forms.
A glass bridge connects the ground floor kitchen with the garden beyond leading to several steps up into the garden. The garden opens up across the glass bridge when viewed from the kitchen.
The flow between spaces and the flow of materials is carried forward with a glazed stair fixed into the side of the glass bridge linking the ground floor to the basement level of the lightwell. Great care has been taken in the careful detailing of all the glazed elements to ensure an elegant glazed construction. The effect is one of transparency, light and reflection.
The elegance of the composition and sense of interconnecting spaces is developed further with the large format glazed sliding doors giving onto the lightwell from the family room. It’s not simply the extent of the glass but also the use of narrow frames which flood the interior with light and add to the sense of contemporary elegance.
The use of glass in a variety of forms, elegant detailing, the connection and flow between spaces, a sense of light and transparency and well composed views. This is the success of our Ellerby Street project and marks an approach echoed in all our work.
