Our brief at Greenwich House was to create the ultimate haven from demanding City jobs, designing a restorative home, with individuality and personality - for cosy evenings by the fire and relaxing weekends entertaining friends.
The house required a complete refurbishment. The central staircase compromised flow, especially on the ground floor, while a rear addition had left the kitchen and back reception room isolated from the split-level garden. An existing semi-basement opened on to the lower garden level but, disconnected from the ground floor this space lacked purpose.
By creating a staircase at the side of the house, our solution transformed the layout. The ground floor has been opened up, with a massive structural frame across the full width, and the original rear rooms and back addition have been united to form one large open-plan kitchen/ dining/ living area.
Winner - Interior of the Year
BIID Awards 2022
Complete refurbishment
Double-height rear extension
New staircase
Winter garden
360 sq m
5 Bedrooms, 4 bathrooms
Architecture
Landscape design
Project management
Interior design
Furniture, accessories & styling
'The judges all agreed it was an outstanding example of the power of great design to transform a space.'
At the front of the house, we removed clumsy additions to restore the original frontage. The central hall opens to a view right through to the new extension at the rear.
To the right a large boot room, with bespoke built-in storage, now enables everything to be put away and the generous entrance hall to remain calm.
Opposite, the snug has been completely refurbished, with an open fire and warm tones creating a cosy feel.
This large open plan space to the rear has a new polished concrete floor and the full width is backed by a new joinery wall within which full-height kitchen elements, including a hidden door into a pantry, are neatly integrated.
The kitchen is based around an enormous central island topped with a gorgeous slab of green Cipolino Ondulato marble with a wonderfully tactile leathered finish.
A touch of glamour is added to the dining area by a bespoke drinks cabinet, which is clad in polished brass sheet and recessed into the joinery wall.
A pair of doors ingeniously open and fold back across the brass-clad bookshelves to reveal the cabinet interior with its sparkling glass racks and marble mixing station.
To increase daylight and improve views to the garden, the rear addition was rebuilt. London stock bricks featuring double-depth reveals to the Crittall-style glazing combine with flush pointed brickwork to give a contemporary, squared-off, sculptural form.
The floor of the rear addition has been opened up to the semi-basement, creating a stunning double-height winter garden, across which light floods into the kitchen.
A salvaged cast iron spiral staircase and an exposed brick wall links the two levels, while a sitting area at the foot of the winter garden, under double-height glazed doors, forms the perfect spot to relax.
Our client’s love of gardening influenced the design. The winter garden, with its terracotta floor and subtropical plants, creates a buffer between the house and the re-planned rear garden.
At the back of the winter garden, behind secret doors is a new ‘potting room’ with zinc-topped workbench. Alongside is a glazed wine store, with its oak shelving adding warmth to the scheme.
The garden itself has been conceived as a series of ‘rooms,’ each with its own identity, but united by the spine of a rock garden, arranged across the split in levels. Working this carefully around existing mature planting has resulted in a richness that reflects the vibrant interior of the house.
With a single continuous timber handrail, the new oak staircase gracefully winds its way up through the house. A large rooflight drops natural light down from above.
The first floor now incorporates a homely study, a guest bedroom and bathroom, and the master suite.
The top floor previously had poor quality rooms under a low, (sagging) roof. Replacing the roof allowed for the creation of a dramatic dormer with a tall, fully-glazed gable, together with a generous, light-filled guest suite, featuring a boutique hotel-style bedroom complete with freestanding bath, a children’s bunk-room and a bathroom.
Within the dormer window of the guest suite, a large day bed is the perfect place for taking in the expansive views across London. We designed ingenious shutters for the gable window that fold back against the wall. Both the shutters and the timber that lines the dormer and the headboard wall have been reclaimed from the original floorboards.
'It showed meticulous attention to detail, creativity and professionalism in its design and finish, and was deemed the be the best overall project.'
BIID Awards Judges
