Archmongers has completed a modern update of a Victorian house in a conservation area in Dalston, Hackney, for a creative couple working in the fields of graphic design and illustration. The project has transformed the house from a poorly insulated, single-glazed and gas central heated property with an irrational compartmentalised plan, into a thermally efficient, all-electric, hi-tech, contemporary home with abundant daylight now reaching deep into the house. A sunny yellow frieze on the new rear extension features a pattern with stylised rays overlooking the re-landscaped garden and new garden annexe housing a music room. The practice has extensive experience modernising and upgrading period properties while honouring their historic and cultural qualities. Extensions to the house footprint have been limited to the rear elevation, and kept to a minimum.