Behind the thick privet hedges of the affluent village of Cookham in Berkshire lies a great range of architecture, from quaint country cottages to flashy Thames-side new-builds and spacious Edwardian villas. Prized for their size and light-filled rooms, the latter still require plenty of work to bring them up-to-date for contemporary living, as London-based practice Dedraft found out with their latest project, TE Residence.
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Explore ths refreshed garden villa
Set amid mature hedgerows and trees on a residential lane, the original villa dated back to 1909 and came surrounded by a generous garden. But all attempts to refurbish and improve it had to comply with strict policies and constraints, as the plot is located on a patch of Green Belt land designed to prevent urban sprawl from the nearby town of Maidenhead.
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Dedraft’s clients, a young family relocating from London, tasked the architects with modernising the house and unifying the living spaces. On their wishlist was a home office, better connection to the garden, a new-build garage and guest accommodation, plus an outdoor pool and poolhouse.
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‘The clients’ brief requested a considered contemporary remodelling and extension of the main house – one that would sit comfortably within its context, make better links with the raised rear garden and establish a sympathetic dialogue between the original building and new additions,’ explains Dedraft director Grant Straghan.
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Although based in Hackney, east London, his practice has form when it comes to blending landscape and architecture, with recent projects including Capability House, in the historical setting of the Capability Brown-designed grounds of Aynhoe Park Estate in Northamptonshire; and the renovation of a 1960s modernist gem in the South Downs National Park.
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For TE Residence, completed in October 2025, Straghan found inspiration in the rural setting but also in a myriad visual references, including the strong silhouette and minimal forms of Vincent van Duysens’ DC2 Residence in Belgium, and projects such as Atelje Ö Villa Butter in Gotland, Highlands House by Other Architects, and the striped-back CD Poolhouse by Marc Merckx.
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Dedraft’s update included removing mock-Tudor detailings to refresh the façade, and building a single-storey rear extension along the garden elevation to unify the ground floor. The generous, light-filled new family spaces flow onto terraces, while the former dining room, an octagonal room at the front of the house, has been turned into a large home office.
(Image credit: James Retief)
The new extension is capped by a ribbed precast concrete band, in the same colour as the existing terracotta roof. The detail was inspired by the use of ‘complementary red clay tile and brick to reinforce the strong horizontality of the overhanging planes in José Antonio’s 1972 Casa Coderch’, explains Straghan.
(Image credit: James Retief)
‘At TE Residence, these unifying bands bring a sense of coherence between the new, glazed additions and the existing roughcast rendered house with a direct link to the existing clay roof tiles that dominate the roofscape.’
(Image credit: James Retief)
Inside, the house is both pared-back and warm, a ‘homely minimalism’ created in collaboration with Last Interiors. Finishes include oak flooring by Trunk and steel doors by John Horton, while the attention to detail is apparent in a concrete fireplace by Morris Concrete and custom kitchen and joinery by Bauhaus Group.
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The other key part of the project, the garden and the new outbuildings, required a different approach, says the architect: ‘The client was keen for the new-build garage and pool house to appear distinctly new. These outbuildings were intended to be bolder, more refined additions that could stand independently and be read clearly as contemporary structures.’
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Set at a distance from the main house, under a huge oak tree, the standard double garage has been replaced with a two-storey gabled-shaped structure clad in black-stained timber that references the local vernacular. It incorporates a garage, storage area, shower room and guest accommodation above.
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‘Its contemporary simplicity was achieved by considered craftsmanship and detailing – eliminating overhangs concealing gutters, flush rooflights, side-sliding garage doors preventing anything projecting beyond perimeter,’ says Staghan. ‘To the rear an arched opening deliberately jars with the otherwise orthogonal edges, adding a playful nod to the fun being had in the pool it overlooks.’
(Image credit: James Retief)
In the reconfigured garden, designed in collaboration with Nick Dexter of ND Studio, a series of wide concrete steps leads up to the raised pool area through a series of terraced spaces with Corten steel retaining walls and layered planting. The low-slung pool pavilion, clad in black timber like the garage, houses a home gym, storage and service plant room including an air source heat pump.
(Image credit: James Retief)
‘The detailing of the black stained larch envelope enabled these outbuildings to sit quietly, forming a discreet backdrop to the natural planting and the other domestic paraphernalia that occupies a family home,’ says Straghan.
(Image credit: James Retief)
‘The reconfigured garden is structured around its relationship with the house, with long panoramic views unifying the interior and landscape,’ he continues, ‘while in the front garden, a natural pond is largely concealed within a wildflower meadow, contributing to biodiversity while remaining visually discreet.’
(Image credit: James Retief)
Combining meadow-style planting, off-white lime render façade, pale concrete plinths, terracotta-coloured details, and black-stained timber, the restrained palette is designed to ‘ground the architecture within the landscape’. The result is so cohesive and tactful that it is difficult to imagine anything else in its place.
(Image credit: James Retief)
dedraft.co.uk
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