Rural grain store buildings inspire a minimal extension in the British countryside
A simple house extension designed by Folkstone-based architect Jonathan Burlow combines mimimal expressions, a concrete platform, and stacked clay bricks – all inspired by local rural architecture

British-French architect Jonathan Burlow has designed a minimal extension to a house in Hythe, Kent. With its large windows, neat brick exterior and pitched roof the extension follows and abstracts surrounding houses, yet has also been inspired by 18th century rural grain store buildings found in the south of England.
Burlow, who founded his studio in 2018, echoed the properties of grain store buildings through the design. Just like the traditional grain stores that were raised upon saddle stones to protect grain from vermin and water seepage, Burlow raised the extension up onto a concrete platform, which extends into the garden to form a simple patio.
This decision expresses the extension is an independent volume – slightly separated from the main house, with a small cantilever over the immediate landscape. While the exaggerated traditional ‘house’ elements such as the pitched roof also unite it.
The neat exterior of white stack-bonded clay brickwork is a minimal response to how grain sacks would be stacked in the grain storage buildings. Inside, minimal expression continues with a wide, open and airy interior space with a polished concrete floor. Here, the space has been left clean and simple to allow objects and furniture inside the space define the character of the owner.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Harriet Thorpe is a writer, journalist and editor covering architecture, design and culture, with particular interest in sustainability, 20th-century architecture and community. After studying History of Art at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and Journalism at City University in London, she developed her interest in architecture working at Wallpaper* magazine and today contributes to Wallpaper*, The World of Interiors and Icon magazine, amongst other titles. She is author of The Sustainable City (2022, Hoxton Mini Press), a book about sustainable architecture in London, and the Modern Cambridge Map (2023, Blue Crow Media), a map of 20th-century architecture in Cambridge, the city where she grew up.


















-
Showing off its gargoyles and curves, The Gradel Quadrangles opens in Oxford
The Gradel Quadrangles, designed by David Kohn Architects, brings a touch of playfulness to Oxford through a modern interpretation of historical architecture
By Shawn Adams Published
-
A Norfolk bungalow has been transformed through a deft sculptural remodelling
North Sea East Wood is the radical overhaul of a Norfolk bungalow, designed to open up the property to sea and garden views
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
A new concrete extension opens up this Stoke Newington house to its garden
Architects Bindloss Dawes' concrete extension has brought a considered material palette to this elegant Victorian family house
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
A former garage is transformed into a compact but multifunctional space
A multifunctional, compact house by Francesco Pierazzi is created through a unique spatial arrangement in the heart of the Surrey countryside
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
A 1960s North London townhouse deftly makes the transition to the 21st Century
Thanks to a sensitive redesign by Studio Hagen Hall, this midcentury gem in Hampstead is now a sustainable powerhouse.
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Manchester United and Foster + Partners to build a new stadium: ‘Arguably the largest public space in the world’
The football club will spend £2 billion on the ambitious project, which co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has described as the ‘world's greatest football stadium’
By Anna Solomon Published
-
'Bold and unapologetic', this contemporary Wimbledon home replaces a 1970s house on site
This grey-brick Wimbledon home by McLaren Excell is a pairing of brick and concrete, designed to be mysterious
By Tianna Williams Published
-
The little-known story of Welsh modernism
'Cabin Crew', a new book published this spring by The Modernist, brings the spotlight to Cardiff-based practice Hird & Brooks
By Emma O'Kelly Published