Muswell Hill

The project was to restore and reconstruct a three storey Edwardian House in the Muswell Hill Conservation Area.

The house was in considerable state of dilapidation. It was stripped back to brick walls, timber floor joists and studs. Clues and reusable material from the existing house were then taken as the starting point for the design on a room by room basis.

The scope included replacement of all existing windows with new in matching timber profiles, new and refurbished stained-glass windows, repair of the brick facades, new slate roofing, new skylights, hard landscaping, a small basement, new bathrooms and a change in layout to each floor.

The ambition was to create a contemporary interior using traditional construction and carpentry skills that the Edwardians themselves might recognise. A single spirit is carried across the house, rather than new placed in contrast to old.

The ground floor has a classical treatment. Rooms have new fibrous plaster covings and fireplaces and a reclaimed pine floor. Large bifold doors connect the drawing and living rooms.

On upper floors colours become calmer and the design more playful. On the top floor and in a nod to Edwardian architecture and its embrace of fantasy, we opened the attic levels to expose the concealed roof truss work. This creates a variety of new volumes and gives a sense of the rooms being sheltered under the one roof. These new attic spaces for both children and adults and the chance to glimpse long and surprising views between rooms.