Camberwell Cork House

Written by Omar Dahabra

Location: United Kingdom
Year: 2023
Architects: Delve Architects
Photography by: Fred Howarth

Camberwell Cork House is a natural materials-led rear extension and full refurbishment by Delve Architects. Utilising Cork cladding and insulation, the new home reduces carbon emissions, saves on bills and improves on biodiversity.

The homeowners, couple Theo and Emily, were looking to extend and enhance their Victorian Terrace home and better connect them to the garden but with some creative flair that matched their interests in design and architecture. Delve Architects' approach was to match the context of the street and the butterfly roof of the house with a pitched design, choosing to use cork, a regenerative material, to add that all important character to the design as well as improving environmental performance.

The resulting extension was completed in 26 weeks, adding 20sqm to the property and strongly improving the overall thermal and environmental performance of the house.

Sustainable material choices and low U values were chosen throughout for all new elements, including triple glazing throughout by Ecovia. The natural cork material is used as both an external cladding, and also as an insulation - an innovative Cork cladding and Cork insulation has been used for the entire extension rear facade. Triple glazed units form a high air tightness and thermal value for the new extended areas, reducing energy consumption and bills.

The cork cladding, has it's own distinct personality and provided an inviting challenge to Delve to work with this natural material: meeting building regulations and completing the extension to a high standard in a domestic setting.

Inside, the home is totally transformed from a pokey back room to an area filled with light and open space. The new kitchen providing much needed room for hosting an entertaining well as better connection to both outdoors and adjoining lounge area, which Delve also designed.

Alex Raher, Delve Architects:
"What Camberwell Cork House demonstrates is how you can creatively respond to concerns about the climate crisis with design-led solutions that deliver a better built environment for families. We always want to show how decarbonising can be done at any scale and loved the challenge of working with this natural material." Text description by the architects.

Source: www.archdaily.com + www.delvearchitects.com
Area: 112 m²

Omar Dahabra
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