EDIT FOOTER COLOUR CODE HERE
This coach house set within a Kensington Mews was a compact home that needed a deep retrofit, extending at loft and basement level. The house has windows on the street-facing elevation only - we needed to design a way to bring in as much natural light as possible.
The Brief
The young couple approached us to look at ways to extend the house up as well as down to from a family home as children came along. With the Conservation area requirements, we were not able to introduce an external lightwell to bring light into the basement spaces. The only way to get natural light down to the new kitchen would be to borrow light from the floors above using internal lightwells. The staircase acted as a lightwell through all levels of the building, funnelling light down from the top of the house.
The Mews House
Kensington / London
Completed 2000
Local Authority Kensington and Chelsea Council
Build Team: SLM Construction Ltd
Concept Sketches
Concept Sketch
Initial sketch idea from basement look up towards ground floor
Concept Sketch
Initial sketch illustrating staircase up to first floor
Project Summary
Party Walls
This was a project that backed onto a large building that had multiple owners. As such, the party wall award process was intense. We got there in the end, but never underestimate the time taken to deal with party wall awards!
Staircase
The staircase was designed to be visually lightweight and made from natural materials - growing up through the floors of the house. The framework to the stairs is steelwork that is overclad in oak to form the slim profile stair.