A house for Sunday lunch introduces a contrasting modern extension and refurbishment to an existing family home in North London. The existing property, a classic Victorian terrace on a beautiful and cherished local London Square, is dramatically transformed to serve the challenges of modern family living. Working within the strict requirements of the local conservation area this project sensitively combines traditional with modern intervention, seeking similarity through texture and quality as opposed to visual continuity. Our clients brief evolved from a desire to make a house that could feel as intimate and practical for two during the week, as it can for large family gatherings on the weekend. The design results in a flexible dining bench seat, nook reading spaces, big cooking provision, clever concealed storage and strong themes between the original house, extension and new landscaping. Using a strong palette of charcoal brickwork, polished concrete, smoked oak and subtly crafted joinery, the project provides a new rich contrast to the existing London stock brickwork, painted sash windows and classic white interior detailing. The project challenges the idea that full width glazing is required across the rear of an extension to create a connection between the interior and the garden. It places a window seat in a corner adjacent planted beds and brings a meandering brickwork from the back of the garden into the house via pavers, planters, piers, plinths and walls. It finally climbs to a high point within a new lightwell at the back of the new kitchen space to create a definitive connection between the old and new.