The Raw House was conceived as a spliced modern ‘insertion’ within a Victorian vernacular. The end-of-terrace house in Oxford presented a unique opportunity to extend widthways as well as lengthways, which culminated in an uncharacteristically spacious volume for a house of this nature. The brief was to maximise the floor area of the existing property through the utilisation of an unexpected approach, in order to make it as marketable as possible. A material-driven experiment across three floors, the project involved a complete overhaul of the existing property, including replacing the ground floor kitchen outrigger with a new light filled extension, reconfigurations to the layout of the first floor and the addition of a new loft bedroom and en suite. The steel elements introduced within the building fabric were left exposed and celebrated through painting in rich tones, to recognise the assertive structural intervention on the space and to clearly define the junction between the original building and the new extension. A polished microcement floor runs throughout the ground floor kitchen area, to unify the space and create a singular volumetric expression. The project stands as an expression of lockdown, whereby elements were constructed in whatever materials could be sourced at the time. More readily available, limewash paints and natural oil finishes replaced conventional emulsions and eggshells, resulting in a raw, earthy finish, marrying beautifully with the palette of the Oxford red brick walls and natural slate roof.