Surrey Homes | SH33 | July 2017 | Interiors supplement inside

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This page: A concrete plinth has been cast at the base of the
stairs. Marta has weaved rope through the metal handrail. Rather
than hanging from the ceiling, a huge glass orb has been set down
in one corner to provide illumination
of the building and extended it to make a downstairs
bedroom, bathroom and generous reception area.
Upstairs “it was the worst of the worst,” she laughs,
describing the flattened ceilings and endless partitioning.
“It was a warren of little rooms, fluorescent lights and
magnolia paint.” Marta’s builder Pat Gill, from Kent, with
whom she’s worked for over 20 years, demolished all of that
and together they completely reconfigured the building.
Now the only traces of the ambulance station are the
large doors and a paper sign that is taped onto the front
window. “I’ve redesigned it to be a family home with as
many bedrooms as possible. The bedrooms are deliberately
small as they’re only used for sleeping – and it’s all about
being together. It’s great for weekend gatherings.” She
adds: “The large space downstairs had been made into
two rooms by St John Ambulance, so I put that back into
one large space. I love space, my remit is to have space.”
That feeling of space has been made by physically moving
walls and taking down partitions, but also through Marta’s
clever ideas and design skills. On the ground floor the
whole area is unified by the limited palette of materials.
The wide limed oak floorboards continue, in narrower
form, to clad the central walls, fusing floor with wall,
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