Scale and Glamour
Prior to its makeover this home in Clapham Old Town was in a fairly poor state. Its comprehensive refurbishment has included digging out a new basement floor, incorporating a new top floor, extending the back of the house and developing an entirely new room structure. The principal engineering challenge came in digging out the new floor underneath the existing home. This now provides a gym, wine store, laundry room and a cinema space for its family occupants. Cochrane Design faced the challenge of needing to find new space within the footprint and bring light and air into the property, restoring its original scale and glamour. This was achieved through an imaginative new floorplan, and by creating a double height space at the rear of the house, as well as new ceiling vaults and lightwells within the main property. The entrance to the home is now flanked by two drawing rooms, their high ceilings, tall doors and feature panelling enhancing the elegance and formality of the rooms. Through the next set of double doors there is a kitchen/living space, which combines seating, kitchen and two dining areas. Clever use of ceiling detailing and furniture placement defines these functional zones. Throughout the conversion great importance has been placed on accurately recreating the period characteristics of the property. Existing cornicing was replicated by craftsmen and external work carried out sympathetically, as the house is located in a conservation area.
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