This grand Victorian single-family home had been turned into multiple flats and then hastily reconverted to a single home in the 1980s. Our approach carefully reimagined this transformation, introducing a contemporary and dynamic kitchen connected to the outdoors, designed for clients who love to cook and entertain. Defined by a series of wall lights that anchor the contemporary addition, the kitchen’s galley space is now articulated by lighting that says, ‘This is the place.’
Over the years, the staircase had been painted in more than twenty layers of a deep walnut paint, which was visually heavy and competed with the stained-glass windows. Stripped of lacquer and painted white, the crafted timber now connects with the sculpted columns and archway of the entry. We designed the stair runner in twelve shades of blue, darker at the base and lighter as it travels up the staircase, then darker again at the top, so it beautifully offsets the stained-glass Victoriana window, its clarity of pattern and colour not overworked, but contemporary in detail.
In the bathroom, the complexity of the contemporary joinery is layered with two smaller stained-glass windows using mirrors to integrate them. The mirrors have a jewel-like effect, reflecting the marble, glass and porcelain with a Crystal Palace shimmer. While in the informal dining area, a relaxed sofa with elegantly crafted legs, a smoked ash dining table and dining chairs with paper cord detail are a nod to mid-century Scandinavia. A reproduction 1950s Danish suspension lamp anchors the space. Outside dark cladding recesses the new addition, which nestles against the patina of red bricks, bluestone pavers and a sculptural garden.
