This 1930's property is a grand house that was
desperately in need of modernisation. Its owners
both worked and had four children and led a very
different lifestyle to the one for which the building was
designed. The house's finishes and interiors needed
updating and the kitchen was gloomy. None of the
rooms had a good visual connection to the garden.
There was nowhere to eat in the kitchen and the
dining space was too far away. These were just some
of the home's shortcomings.
To remedy them, Gregory Phillips Architects came up
with a solution that involved reorganising and interior
design of all ground floor space of the house, a rear
extension, and the refurbishment of first floor
bedrooms. The construction of a small extension at the
middle of the rear façade facilitated the creation of a
connecting space that links all the major ground floor
rooms. This connecting space spans the length of the
rear of the house and is 27 metres long. It provides
long views within the house and a strong connection
between interiors and garden. This linking space is
completed visually at one end by the bespoke fish
tank in the kitchen, and at the other end by the baby
grand piano with adjacent colour-changing light box.
The project created: a decent size kitchen for family
living and entertaining; a grand entrance hall separated from the living space by a sliding screen; a
separate but linked dining and drawing room also
equipped with a screen; a music room connected to
the living space; five pairs of new doors to the rear
façade and views to the garden; a newly located
library; and a newly located leather-walled television
room. The connection of the spaces within the house
allows for spaces to work intimately or to be opened
up to create entertaining spaces.
Rationalisation of the space in the house was only
achievable because of the innovative structural design
and the removal of a second staircase. This
necessitated a reconfiguration of the means of
escape in the house in order to comply with Building
Regulations.
The project incorporates a host of custom designed
features such as the sliding screens, a bench in the
music room and the fireplace in the drawing room.
The home has also been fitted with a range of
advanced technology, including a bespoke LED floor
lighting system in the corridor, the light box in the
music room, and Lutron and Crestron integrated
lighting and audio-visual systems. |
