Hampstead

Located in Hampstead within the Frognal conservation area this project involved a substantial extension and renovation of an existing Georgian style early 20th century house. The clients have a large family and wanted to create a home that could serve to accommodate all of them at the same time and offer a substantial family home in one of London’s most central suburban locations.

After protracted negotiations with Camden planning department, given its location within a sensitive conservation area, permission was granted for a large basement below the entire existing footprint of the house, along with further extensions above and behind the existing garage. In addition, the entire house was refurbished throughout. The design, which was built to the most exacting standard, thoroughly modernised the interior, with additional living accommodation, a home office and a spa area added in the basement.

A new staircase is precisely engineered from steel, glass and walnut and serves all the upper floors of the property. This was relocated to free up additional space in the plan, creating a better connection between the front and the back of the house and better proportioned rooms. Underfloor heating and new polished walnut floors were laid throughout the upper floors to give a consistent character. All the En suites use a different palette of materials to create interest and variety, with the most dramatic being the master en-suite which uses book-matched slabs of Milas Damarli ‘Lilac New York’ marble to create a statement bathroom.

On the ground floor dark limestone paving, again with underfloor heating, is used as a hard wearing and practical finish and is also used as a connecting material between inside and outside through large new glass openings.

The garden outside the basement area was excavated to prevent the additional floor from feeling subterranean and the entire garden was redesigned to accommodate this. The proposal allowed a substantial increase in the available high quality amenity space, adding two further guest rooms making it a large and luxurious family home, but with no discernible impact on the street frontage.

The full refurbishment of the house was executed to the highest standard which included purpose made floor to ceiling sand blasted Douglas Fir doors with custom made ironmongery, concealed automated blinds and curtains, custom lighting and lighting control systems, seamless wood flooring and custom-made joinery throughout the property. We oversaw this project from concept to completion, and co-ordinated the main contract works as well as manging specialist input from landscapers, lighting consultants, joiners, metalwork fabricators, audio visual suppliers and kitchen designers in addition to the construction process on site. We also sourced all the furniture for the house and oversaw the handover of the project to the clients.