Edgley Design restores a run-down home with stainless steel cladding

Most architects and developers prefer to demolish run-down buildings and start from scratch, but not Edgley Design.

The East London architecture firm chose instead to sustainably upcycle a 1960 one-story structure into the Wrap House, a striking contemporary home clad in stainless steel. Located in rural surroundings near the town of Godalming, the Wrap House retained the structure’s distinctive silhouette and was recognized as a winner in the Architects Journal Retrofit Awards 2014.

Due to poor insulation and disrepair, the original brick-and-timber house was prone to leaking. Edgley Design wrapped the renovated building in insulation and sheathed most of the facade in stainless steel for a weather-tight finish. The striking exterior “reflect(s) the colors of the landscape and sky, creating a shimmering, colorful envelope,” write the architects.

Floor-to-ceiling windows were installed to frame views of the seven-bedroom home’s 2.5-acre gardens. The stainless steel panels overlap to provide solar shading for the glazed openings. The contemporary interior is bright and flooded with natural light that reflects off of the white walls and wood floors.