In 2017 we received planning permission from The Royal Borough of Kensington for the conversion of a terraced house in a Chelsea Conservation Area. The proposal involved the excavation of an additional floor below the existing basement level. This would cover the entire footprint of the building, including the outside front and rear patio’s from which daylight will be brought in via walk-on skylight set into the patio floor.
The existing conservatory was to be replaced an single storey extension which large glass roof bringing additional sunlight into the lower ground areas. From the living room on the raised ground floor a balustrade will offer a views down into the lower ground dining room and over a green roof across the void. A set of sliding doors will give access to the patio garden and open up the back of the house.
The basement level will accommodate a home cinema and hobby room as well as a laundry space and bathroom. The mansard roof will be re-build to create a small roof terrace at the top set behind the parapet wall and to change the dormer windows with full height french doors install larger dormer windows bringing more light in and offer great view across the rooftops by full height doors, again bringing in more light.
The works will extend across all floors of the property, modernise the entire house, restore its original features and make it a very comfortable, luxurious 21st century family home.. The addition of the basement will also add 25% to the overall floorspace.
In Octorber 2018 we started the refurbishment of a house in Hackney. The property had been subdivided into 2 flats and the original staircase connecting all floors had been removed. Most original features had been lost.
Our brief involved re-instating some of the original layout but also to create an open-plan layout in the lower ground seamlessly connecting with the garden. We discovered the potential for an extra bedroom / office in a previously inaccessible attic. A dormer window in the roof now offers great views and a roof light brings light into a previously dark stairwell.
The house dates back to 1860 and needed to brought into 21ste century. It was in desperate need of upgrading. To be able to restructure we only retained the front and rear facade. Both roof, all walls and floors where replaced in full. This allowed us to fully insulate the property as well as add the highest level of sound proofing to new floors and walls.
A growing family living in a ground floor flat in London Fields needed more room. What was an redundant concreted part of the garden seemed like the ideal spot for a side/back extension. The apartment is arranged across the ground floor of a Victorian building had a corridor running centrally with the rooms either side but with no views out into the garden or bringing sunlight in. Opening up the rear facade out to garden and establishing a view into the garden seemed the obvious approach. The implications of extending out into the garden was loss of light in the centre of the apartment So a single piece 3.3 meter long rooflight was positioned in the flat roof of the extension, separating the old from the new, allowing daylight to filter through to the centre of the building. This combined with a fully glazed rear elevation, it creates a well balanced light level in within the lounge. The kitchen-dining space and lounge form one open-plan space. A pivoting glass door and a sliding pocket door allow for this shared family space to be separated from the 3 bedrooms at the front of the house. A beautiful Japanese Maple tree forms the focal point on the patio. The large single sliding oak door frames this tree from the inside like and art work. By designing the windows and terrace around this focal point, the garden is brought more into focus and the relation between inside and out become re-enforced. The chevron oak parquet flooring is flush with the outside granite plank form paving reducing the transition between inside and out. As part of this refurbishment, all services were updated including underfloor heating, lighting and an integrated home cinema and music system. Despite the 25% increase in floorspace, the new heating system, high spec double glazing and insulation, resulted in a far better energy performance reducing the energy bills.
The practise took on the opportunity to refurbish a substantial Victorian house on the edge Hampstead Heath. The property dates back to 1884 and had been subdivided into 3 separate apartments arranged over 5 floors.
Our brief was to convert this long neglected property back into one house, designed for contemporary living. Planning permission was granted for alterations to the interiors and the introduction of patio doors to the newly landscaped garden. The room layout was reconfigurred on most floors to accommodate new bathrooms and bedrooms. The attic was also converted into a flexible space for future use.
We also designed a number of bespoke furniture pieces such a library with home cinema system and built-in wardrobes. In the “bespoke” section of the website we are showing 3 pieces of furniture which were designed 3 years after the renovation for the study in the house.
The work started on site in spring 2009 and was completed by November that year. We have played an on-site role throughout giving the client a daily update on the progress of the building work. Our contractors delivered a great result and we established a good working relation which we have maintained to date.
In 2011 the practise was appointed to refurbish a substantial penthouse apartment for a young family within a Kensington Conservation area. In close collaboration with the owner we established a vision for an extensive refurbishment which incorporated the clients furniture collection and diverse range of ideas. The result is a warm and comfortable home with some strong contemporary features as well as hints to the past within the setting of this Georgian property.
The sensitivity of the site and the local authority’s restrictive attitude towards new architecture conflicted with the clients ambition to improve the buildings upper floor, making the planning application for this Grade II listed building a complicated negotiation process. The scheme involved raising the entire roof up to improve the limited ceiling height in the loft, removing a roof section, to create a sheltered terrace. We introduced 3 large roof lights to bring the daylight in, one of which opening out providing access to a roof terrace. The terrace offers a great outdoor space with a panoramic view across this beautiful part of London.
On the lower level, three bedrooms and two bathrooms were substantially modified and renovated. The client interest in vintage furniture and reclaimed elements resulted in a fun and lively palette of character-full materials including reclaimed oak floorboards, bespoke spanish encaustic tiles, fumed oak parquet, emperador marble and exposed brick.
All services were replaced and an advanced home cinema was integrated into a library. The work started on site in March 2012 and was completed by September that year.
One of our earliest project was the refurbishment of a bachelor pad in one of the mansion blocks on Bryston Square. Together with the client we developed a brief which involved two bedrooms and bathroom with an open plan feel ready for entertaining . We completely reconfigured the layout of the poverty and stripped out all the walls.
The result was a clear arrangement of rooms either side of a corridor with the bedrooms at one end and the open plan kitchen / dining space at the other. The apartment has three outside walls with tall art deco windows flooding all rooms with light.
The kitchen island includes a bench and dining table. The parties designed a series of bespoke furniture elements for every room. A home entertainment audio system was also incorporated and installed in all rooms.
In 2011 we completed the radical transformation of a 1920′s house in Chiswick. The brief was to partially demolish the rear half of the house and build a single and two storey rear extension to the rear. In addition, a basement was excavated and a front extension was built over the existing driveway to accommodate a garage with bathroom and private terrace above.
The owners commissioned us to extensively transform their house whilst still retaining some of the period character present. This ambitious brief also involved creating a low carbon building incorporating a grey water systems, a ground-source heat pump and photovoltaic panels to generate electricity.
The rear extension is a mainly steel and timber construction with a glass re-enforced bespoke concrete cladding. We studied various colours, shades and patterns and opted for 3 tiles which reduce in size and shade towards the sky. The double height extension has heavy oak timber windows and doors whilst the single storey extension has the slimmest aluminium sliding doors. The roof above is covered with a lush green sedum planting surrounding a frameless glass box which captures the warmth of the sun and distributes it across the house through the heat recovery system.
The terrace has a concrete BBQ with storage below and planters which the owners use to grow herbs.
The project was lead by architect Sam Tisdall who we collaborate with on a number of our projects. We were involved in architectural and interior design decisions and involved in the project from the start to completion.
