Detail – Campden Grove

Typology: Home

Completion: 2014

Size: 3,600sqft

Client: Private

This project was one of our earlier full house transformations. It needed imaginative structural solutions to overcome the tight central London site. It also required a refinement in detailed finishes to resonate with the heritage of the existing house but also to reflect our desire to create a contemporary home for this client.

We maximised both the top, middle and bottom, adding a large basement to the maximum allowable plot size under the house, extending the rear of the house and creating a double height glazed infill with 6m sliding doors to bring light deep into the plan form.

One of the most significant challenges was to maximise the natural daylight entering the building to retain a connection between the vertically stacked living spaces. We proposed opening the rear of the property on the raised ground floor to create a large double height space overlooking the kitchen and dining room below, allowing the spaces to interact across the differing levels and maximise a visual connection with the garden throughout and adding a sense of increased volume.

We worked closely with the family to really explore the nature of detail and in many areas how we could balance both the use of high-quality natural materials such as statuary marble, Douglas fir flooring and patinated brass with more simple finishes to heighten the user experience and tactile feel of the home.

The outcome needed to be both practical to use but also light filled and aspirational and in so doing making sure each area of the house was unique.