London’s Proctor & Shaw bucked the status quo in their Quarter Glass House project, conceiving atypical solutions to a typical brief — for this Edwardian in South West London, the studio went over and above expectations, quite literally, to create a unique angular addition.

“We re-established an extension that wraps around and reaches out into the side of the house and into the rear garden,” says lead architect and firm co-founder Mike Shaw. His team incorporated space originally occupied by a dated conservatory they had demolished into the new folded volume, bumping out the protrusion by 14 square metres in a manner that deftly navigates both zoning laws and neighbouring extensions.

The architects designed the furniture-like island and finished it with a custom copper countertop by MPM Engineering. Large-format grey floor tiles extend from the inside out for a seamless transition.

“There are a lot of Victorian and Edwardian houses in London with the same basic layout, and it’s common to see a smaller projection into the yard,” he says. Responding to the site, which is heavily sloped from the front entrance down toward the back garden, the architects used a waterfall of tiered progressions to manifest an interesting and subtle link between spaces while adding dramatic proportion. (Previously, the interior didn’t engage with the outside; the external rear stairs led down to the garden — at a height difference of 1.3 metres.)

The British studio recruited Naked Doors to manufacture custom cabinet fronts and topped them with crisp white Silestone surfacing. The trapezoidal windows are from the U.K.’s Maxlight.

To prevent any dark corners within the now-triangular formation, they added trapezoidal glazing to maximize light and emphasize the design concept. An angular window seat in the faceted corner of the wraparound juts out from the back of the house, capturing more square footage in its form.

Inside, a mix of Douglas fir, pale-blue-painted cabinetry, copper accents, and pink micro-cement panels on the walls and backsplash make for a soft, unexpected palette. “That was about creating a sense of material and richness with a subtle effect,” says Shaw, who, along with partner John Proctor, often conceives of unique materials and layouts to achieve their design aims. Here, it was a decidedly bespoke feel.

To that end, “we used Ikea carcasses and dressed them in a nice material to convey a sense of luxury without blowing the budget,” says Shaw. The plan forgoes any upper cabinets and consolidates tall storage units into one block along the back wall that echoes the proportions of the glass opening to the garden, creating “bookends” to the room.

A handsome copper-topped island reads as a piece of fixed furniture, and thin open shelves running the length of one wall offer an opportunity for display and necessary storage. The Douglas fir used for the soffit and shelving is both friendly and modern. “In this country,” says Shaw, “we typically use pine or spruce [for finishing], but this has a more lively grain and a warm contrast.”