Mid-century revamps

Thanks to a few clever design interventions, these 1950s and 1960s houses have been transformed with the help of light, colour and style

- REBECCA FOSTER

A house with history This early-1950s house was built on a south London site that had been bombed during World War II. When architect John Proctor, director at Proctor + Shaw, went to view the property as part of his hunt for a new family home, he immediately recognised its potential. Mid-century American design served as the main source of inspiration for the renovation of the property, which also encompassed loft and kitchendiner extensions. "We liked the fact that it was a 1950s house and we didn't want to shy away from it," says John. "The design ethos came from the fact that there's no decoration in houses from this period it's quite utilitarian."

At the back of the house, two straightforward brick-built volumes form the rear and loft additions. The kitchen-diner extension was built in cream bricks to create a visual break with the original property, which has been painted in Little Green's Basalt. This brick was also chosen as a nod to the 1950s retro feel.

Colourful creation

In some scenarios, working with the space you have rather than extending is the best course of action, as this project by CAN Studio demonstrates. The internal remodelling of this 1960s semidetached house sought to reformat the layout and increase the abundance of natural light throughout. "The property had a square plan with large windows, so our main move was to open the house up on the ground floor from front to back, allowing one large dual-aspect kitchen-living-dining room," says Mat Barnes, director at CAN. This was achieved via the installation of a single I-beam, which has opened the kitchen up to the rest of the ground level.