Don’t Move Improve Awards Shortlist 2025 RIBA London Award Shortlist 2025 Our clients love to take on a challenging restoration project and asked for our help converting their very run down property into a new family home. At the heart of the project is an extension that completely transforms the house, creating an unexpected oasis that overlooks a south facing garden. Suffering from both historic bomb damage and tree-root subsidence, the dilapidated building called for a bold structural intervention. Our proposal was to insert a cruciform concrete structure into the heart of the house, to prop up the rear wall and form the back-bone of a new extension. Stepped openings and split levels mediate between the original house and the garden, forming a series of surprising and generous living spaces, held together by the expressed concrete structure. Double-skin brick wall construction is combined with concrete beams, reinforcing the monolithic language of the structure. The design combines a sensitive approach to its neighbours in the Lordship Park Conservation Area, as well as creating a distinct and contemporary extension.