GRAPHĒ: Before & After: Near London, a Basic Brick House Breaks Free From the ’70s

"The owners were very keen on bringing more character to what was essentially a bland box," says architect Simon Knight.

In the extension, Knight combined differing brickwork textures, a steel overhang for shading, and timber detailing around the "splayed reveal

For nine years, Simon and Jo Bryant lived on Fishpool Street in the cathedral city of St. Albans, just 20 miles from London. History is everywhere in their town, from the Roman ruins in the park, to a pub called Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, which claims to be one of England’s oldest. Their street was no different—it’s estimated to be about 900 years old, and that’s what they loved about it.

"As one of the oldest streets in St. Albans, it has lots of character and lovely properties," says Jo, but their house there was quite small, and with three children, feeling smaller by the day. "We lasted a bit too long there, considering we had three kids. We were kind of bursting at the seams."

In 2023, the couple found a new property that was quite different from their historic terrace house on Fishpool: a brick home in a nearby subdivision (called an estate) built in 1975. "We were a bit reluctant to move to this type of house, where they all look a bit the same," says Jo. "They’re all sort of modern, just basically a blank box that you can then make your own. That became quite key for us."