To achieve a lighter and more spacious kitchen /dining area at the rear of the ground floor without changing the existing floor to ceiling height, we added two large, frameless skylights over a new side infill extension to give height above the enlarged kitchen as well as flood the room in natural light. A new link between the extended kitchen and refurbished living room has been lined with pantry cupboards. A robust and timeless clay floor tile was chosen for the kitchen as well as the courtyard garden. By taking the floor finish into the garden, both spaces feel more generous.

In addition to reorganising the kitchen and dining spaces, another key part of the brief was to find a suitable place on the ground floor for a bike store. By widening the existing kitchen with the infill extension, we were able to tuck this into the hallway without compromising any of the key living spaces.

Upstairs, two bathrooms were re-planned and updated as part of the overall refurbishment. By moving a wall and adding an extra metre onto the smaller, guest bathroom we created a combined en suite / utility space which freed up useful space on the ground floor.

Contractor: John D Ltd
Structural Engineer: Constant SD
Joinery: Daniel Townsend
Yellow ‘B’ Bench: Be. MARTIN Studio
Location: Highbury, London
Completed: December 2020

Photos by French + Tye