Project Description

Within a beautiful period property in London’s Maida Vale, this apartment has been fully renovated and re-worked, increasing the usable area and transforming it into a unique and contemporary family home. On the main floor the staircase, uniformly illuminated, has been shifted back to open up the living area and the kitchen has been brought forwards and enclosed within a sleek, larch clad box. The box also closes off the private zone of the flat incorporating two guest bedrooms and a shared bathroom comfortably behind the kitchen on the rear façade of the building. The larch box opens to the living area creating a socialable atmosphere but when closed cleverly tidies away kitchen activity, instantly removing it from the space. Combining the kitchen with the dining and sitting areas has increased the overall area of the living space and allows natural light from the front windows to flood through it. Upstairs, the previously unused attic space has been converted into a peaceful master bedroom suite with open-plan sleeping, study and dressing space and a closed off toilet and shower room. The staircase, the
sink and the dressing area are lit by ‘task-skylights’ that have been placed specifically where natural light is helpful.

Special attention has been given to the lighting of the apartment. Using modern architectural lighting fittings, totally recessed into the false-ceiling, quality lighting has been offered to the space, providing the resident with non-disturbing and diffused light. Furthermore, the use of energy saving light sources with low maintenance costs has added value to the apartment, while serving the people living in it with a powerful lighting effect. Resolving the awkwardness of the original layout with these key changes and introducing to the elegant proportions of the existing architecture a palette of soft, neutral colours and cool, natural materials such as wood and stone, which were properly illuminated, the property has been updated with elegant simplicity.