Askew Road

This project is the reinvention for a young family of a semi-detached Victorian villa within the Ravenscourt and Starch Green Conservation Area. The clients’ ambitions included making the house far more resilient in an era of climate change.  

The house had previously been poorly converted into a number of small flats. The project provided an opportunity to return the property to its original use as a single-family home, while setting it up for contemporary family life - particularly in providing it with a seamless connection with its lovely, west-facing garden.

Like many London houses, the basement floor was only accessible by a dark, narrow back stair. We reorganised the plan so that from the front door you could see straight through the house and walk straight ahead down a new stair bringing you directly into the heart of any modern home, a bespoke kitchen with large, uncluttered surfaces, which opens directly out onto the garden. The kitchen is partly double height and is overlooked by a small study balcony on the entrance floor above, reinforcing its centrality.

A rear extension, clad in Douglas fir timber planking, contains family bathroom. On the top floor is a shower room with a glass roof which slides completely away to open the room to the sky. There are living spaces, six bedrooms and, unusually, the rear ground floor room has become a project room/studio.