This Victorian terraced villa in a North London conservation area had at one stage been split into maisonettes, resulting in a warren of spaces at entrance and garden levels.
The brief from our clients; enthusiastic chefs, gardeners and hosts was to open up the house to maximise use of the hidden spaces, rationalise the duplicated functions and convoluted staircases from it’s days as a split residence and, most importantly to enhance the connection to the striking back garden wherever possible.The house does not give anything away from the street, but the dynamic relationship between in & out reveals itself instantly upon arrival, where frameless glazing directly ahead drops away to the garden level, providing a double height view into green space. The continuity of the reclaimed brick wall from entry level descending the stairs and out into the garden accentuates the length of the space, and draws the visitor down into the heart of the home, the kitchen. Skylights in the terrace above the kitchen direct light deep into the space, and sliding glazed doors to the garden are strategically inflected at an angle in plan to provide a vista towards sunset over the garden from the chef’s workspace.