House Refurbishment

Hampstead

This large terraced house in Hampstead, had been serving the owners as a family home for over thirty years. Now the children have flown the nest, and the owners wanted to refurbish the house and redesign it for the next stage of their lives - enjoying retirement. In collaboration with Barbara Weiss Architects, we designed a scheme to update the whole property and add a new mansard roof extension.

We designed a new kitchen in the lower ground floor, with a large sociable island and space for a sofa to allow a comfy seating area for a morning coffee.

The clients love to entertain, so it was important to keep a large dining area. This has been relocated towards the rear and the garden, so the doors can be opened up to bring the garden in.

The clients are also keen art collectors, and incorporating lots of open display areas into the design was crucial and considered throughout the design process. These open shelves are walnut, with recessed LED strips to show off the ceramic collection in the evenings.

Another vital update for the lower ground floor, was to create a ‘destination loo’ - because why should guests experience anything less! We visited a selection of different stone yards until we found this beautiful Bianco Eclipse Quartzite, which creates a real statement behind the mirror and WC. The room was finished off with this amazing pink colour from Paint and Paper Library.

A final, but very important change to the lower levels was the redesign of the stairs down to the lower ground floor. The existing stairs were fairly steep, and the clients were keen to introduce shallower stairs, which are easier to navigate as they age. The new staircase has a contemporary design which complements the older existing stairs, while clearly a modern addition. They have more generous treads and a less steep incline.

A big wish list item, was a laundry room at first floor - close to all the bedrooms and the dirty laundry. We repurposed an existing bathroom to house the laundry, complete with; washing machine, dryer, elevated drying rack and lots of extra storage space.

The remainder of the house was fully refurbished, with redecorated bedrooms and two further bathrooms to accommodate the children or other guests when they come to stay.