The Science Lab, E7

Originally built in 1935 as a school science laboratory, art department and canteen, the house has been converted from two independent flats over two floors back into one single 4-bedroom family home with wild flower green roof and private roof terrace. Attached to the original school caretaker’s Victorian house to the left, the property has been fully refurbished and restored to its former glory. Existing architectural features such as the concrete stairwell with metal handrails, solid pine parquet flooring and perimeter floor tiling have been lovingly restored and new period-correct double glazed Fabco steel windows have been reinstated.

The ground floor contains three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a utility room. A new timber staircase was added in order to connect the two floors both visually and physically whilst the existing concrete staircase remains to respect the integrity of the building and to allow guests to reach the first floor without having to access the private areas of the house.

The first floor has been fully opened up to allow the large windows flood the 100 sqm kitchen, dining and living space with an abundance of natural light with the addition of a fourth bedroom/home office. A new metal staircase allows access through a large skylight to the private roof terrace with stunning views across Waltham Forest.

The house had to be completely stripped back to its brick and concrete structure in order to install high-quality insulation to all external walls and roof, exposing the pot and beam concrete ceilings again, resulting in stunning 3.2 tall ceilings. New fittings are in keeping with the original style of architecture where possible whilst all internal doors consist of state of the art frame-less doors to create a minimal and understated look.

Size: 300 sqm
Duration: 5.5 months
Status: Completed February 2017
Structural Engineers: Blue Engineering

Absolutely delighted with the work produced by made with volume, it will completely transform our house making it much more suited to our needs. Carlo was a pleasure to work with and always challenged us to think differently about the possibilities.
— FA, The Science Lab