This project has been designed whilst working at Michaelis Boyd.

An existing pair of Victorian houses has been reconfigured to provide an inner city residential retreat. 

 

The scale and composition of the existing buildings could not sustain additional extensions without losing much of it's character, however there was an opportunity to redesign  the two houses finally as one holistic home internally and embrace the distinct differences of both.

 

With clear sightlines to private gardens on all sides of the house, the ground floor pivots around a central historic oak staircase, with reception, library, dining room, kitchen and double height family living room. Key walls are kept clear to accommodate pieces from the owner's art collection and natural textures are fully embraced in the soft clay plaster, reclaimed Yew flooring and fossilised Portland stone entrance floors. Working with specialists throughout the project, details are expertly redesigned to enhance the character of the house and add an element of surprise at each turn.

 

On the ground floor, through an arched opening, an oak library sweeps across three walls and was developed on a historic design, adding a completely hidden door to a timber panelled cloakroom. The space spills out onto a light filled courtyard, focussing the gaze past an outdoor shower to a large Cherry tree. To the West, the brushed stainless steel fronted kitchen island is topped with thick live edge slabs from a single Elm tree, felled in a Wiltshire forest.  

 

On the bedroom floor, the layout was reconfigured into 3 vaulted bedroom suites, each with dressing rooms, spacious ensuite bathrooms and discrete comfort cooling. A 2m diameter dome skylight sits above the central stairs, filtering light through a stained glass artwork, with segments individually cast in kilns to sit perfectly into its bronze frame. Reclaimed stained glass windows are repurposed into doors to the master ensuite, leading onto a hand cut mosaic floor. The walls and domed shower are covered in a light tadelakt, reflecting light across the space. In other ensuites, marbles are paired with reclaimed monastery flooring and traditional British brassware invoking a timeless design.

 

The humble unassuming exterior of the house respects the natural rhythm of the streetscene, celebrating the different features of each house and keeping all secrets to itself.

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​Photos by Inna Kostukovsky and Alexander J Collins for Forest to Home