Béton brut is a rough finished architectural surface made of concrete. Béton Brit is a ground floor extension and internal refurbishment of a locally listed terraced house in the Albert Gardens Conservation Area of Stepney Green, East London. Working in close collaboration with the client, a photographer, establishing the materiality of this project has been key. In a nod to to mid century British architects taking the French Auguste Perret’s Béton Brut and adopting it as their own to create Brutalism, the client wanted to develop an architectural language that is recognisably British. This has been achieved primarily by a careful consideration of locally sourced and reused materials, which is a sustainable approach to renovation. This includes the worktops that were hand fabricated from old growth Burmese teak flooring sourced from Plaistow Hospital, a local victorian building. Externally, pre-cast visual grade concrete panels with an exposed aggregate have warm tones that compliment the London stock brickwork it sits adjacent to. The rough texture of this finish is offset by dark metal slimline sliding doors. Internally, the concrete floor has been processed to expose the aggregate in the material to align with the exterior. By omitting the usual suspects you’d expect to see on an extension - coping, downpipes, cills, lights, reveals, frames - and paring the design back to its elemental forms, a more timeless aesthetic is achieved.