DesignBuyBuild_16_2015

Victoria Park, E9 / Scenario
Photographs: Matt Clayton
The property is a two storey
semi-detached house post war
construction in the middle of
a row of terrace houses. Our clients, a
young couple, came to us to redesign the
ground floor as the previous layout was
not suitable for their style of living. The
areas were dark and segregated and they
ended up not using them at all. The house
had previously a rear poorly made and
non-insulated conservatory raised three
steps from the rear garden, and a rear
extension with ancillary spaces.
We used the front side area for bicycle
storage so that they would not pass the
bikes through the house. The entrance
space got redesigned to allow for a built
in bench with shoe storage underneath. A
hidden-when-open fire door creates the
only barrier with the rest of the ground
floor open plan.
The reception area remained at the
front of the house. The wall next to the
previously non-functional fireplace got
demolished to allow for passage and
view to the kitchen. The fireplace got
replaced with a two sided ''window''
fireplace to allow both the reception
area and the kitchen to benefit from it. A
single wall division provides privacy for
the shower room area on the ground floor
and at the same time acts as a catwalk
on the top for the couple's two cats with
access from the main staircase going up.
The kitchen floor is lowered to allow for
a mental separation from the rest of the
areas and its polished concrete with the
reflective surface adds to the ambient
light. A central island provides some
additional work space and flexibility for
the rest of the space as the kitchen table
can slide and hide in it.
A newly created space next to the kitchen
is being used as a Japanese style seating/
work area a bit more isolated from the
rest of the areas but directly connected
at the same time and can also assume
various uses. This seating area and the
kitchen have now direct connection to
the garden with two large sliding folding
doors.
The new extension incorporates a green
roof and a large skylight above the
seating area.
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