“A house for us to live in forever”, our Clients wanted a long-term type of construction and their extremely damp and poorly converted garden flat to be updated and enlarged. Services and storage were pushed into the lightless centre of the large floorplan and the heavy 5 storey house was cut open and an extension that wears its masonry cloak lightly, gently slotted in. Light pours in through surprising openings and allows a transformable live/work space to be incorporated. The existing fabric was damp-treated and insulated throughout, the front door replaced with a high thermal performing composite, tightening up the thermal and permeability of the envelope allowed for a MVHR system to increase the quality of the living environment. The extension itself was conceived as a trio of monolithic slabs resting upon one another to give the impression of solidity at the base of such a massive building. Careful cuts and slots, teasing apart the brick elements give a playful lightness to the new element and the relocation of the level change to the garden expands the apparent volume and brings the much-loved garden space well into the home.