Komorebi
Komorebi is a minimalist residential renovation located in Dulwich, London, designed by ConForm. The project transforms a typical terraced house into a spatially connected family home by amplifying an existing central rooflight into a luminous vertical core that filters daylight across all levels. London terraces typically negotiate privacy and light through clearly defined front and rear zones. ConForm’s intervention for this father and two teenage sons preserves the street-facing brick facade while completely rethinking the rear as a series of stacked, light-filled volumes. The design draws its conceptual foundation from komorebi, the Japanese term describing dappled sunlight passing through leaves. Rather than applying this as aesthetic shorthand, the practice uses it as an organizing principle for how light moves through perforated steel floorplates, open stair treads, and carefully positioned voids to create shifting patterns of illumination that connect inhabitants across the split-level plan.
The house already contained an unusual feature for its typology: a well-lit central rooflight penetrating the middle of the floor plan. Where many practices might have removed this when infilling the roof level, ConForm extended the void upward, turning it into the project’s spatial and emotional anchor. This decision fundamentally restructures how the family experiences the home. Vertical connections become visual and atmospheric rather than purely circulatory. Whitewashed mortar slurried over exposed brickwork amplifies the reflective quality of the void, allowing natural light to animate the core throughout the day while maintaining the textural honesty of the existing structure.
The brief called for flexible shared spaces that could evolve with the family’s changing needs. ConForm responded with distinct zones calibrated to use patterns: a vaulted, heavily glazed study occupies a new first-floor infill extension, offering the father a library-like workspace; a second-floor pod room provides the teenage boys with a separate retreat; and the ground floor unifies front to back through an open counter connecting kitchen, dining, and living areas. These interventions reflect a clear understanding of domestic rhythm with private zones stacked vertically and communal areas cascading horizontally below.
Material consistency binds these varied spaces into a cohesive whole. Oak, chalk-white brick, concrete downstand beams, perforated steel, and ceppo di gre create subtle variation within a unified palette. The contrast between raw concrete and brickwork against refined timber and stone generates quiet complexity, softening what could have been an overly technical expression of openness. Custom joinery integrates fully at every level, with timber-framed windows and embedded lighting that reinforce the architecture rather than overlay it. The staircase reads as a sharp sculptural element, its solid balustrade guiding both light and sightlines through the vertical sequence.