Lifestyle

Dramatic loft extension completely transforms ‘upside-down’ mews home


Architect Peter Morris explains: “We’ve made an upside-down sandwich house! The living spaces are on the ground floor, we’ve added a new loft floor and the bedrooms and bathrooms are on the middle floor.” Hence the sandwich.

Morris was brought in by his client Valentina to refurbish her two-storey semi-detached coach house in a leafy private road in Primrose Hill.

A scientist behind some cutting-edge research, Valentina had lived in the property for many years and wanted to add a second floor and a new roof.

“When I moved in, I had no money, but you save and you save,” she says.

She loved the location but the Victorian mews cottage was very dark and poorly insulated.

“The décor was old-fashioned and in need of a major refresh.”

She desperately needed more light on the ground floor, which consisted of a small Seventies galley kitchen, single aspect, with bay windows only on one side, plus a tiny garage.

“I had an old Golf and though I’m hardly big, I had to fold the mirrors to get in. So neither the kitchen nor the garage were practical.”

She’d spent a lot of money over the years patching up the gable roof and dealing with damp.

“I got a surveyor in who said the roof needed to be completely rebuilt. And I thought, before I do that, why don’t I try an application for planning to go up a floor?”

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Architect Peter Morris suggested Valentina’s garage could be converted into a bigger, state-of-the-art kitchen and said she could add a large loft space, as a third floor (Juliet Murphy)

She met Morris after he had worked on a neighbour’s house. He suggested Valentina’s garage could be converted into a bigger, state-of-the-art kitchen and said she could add a large loft space, as a third floor.

“I took to Peter immediately because he’s got the vision and I’m a real fusspot about the details,” she says. “He was also the only architect I consulted who said, ‘Before we start dreaming let’s see how the foundations are.’ And he got the builders in to dig a hole before I’d even commissioned him.”

Her brief was for clean lines, better light and more storage space. “I also wanted good insulation and an update of everything.”

But Valentina also wanted to respect the character of the house, “because I have been happy here”.

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Morris added a large south-facing frameless glass window seat on the ground floor (Juliet Murphy)

She and Morris agreed any modern additions should be very simple and unfussy.

His solution was to transform the garage into a large kitchen for cooking and dining, with new high-level north-facing windows and a large south-facing frameless glass window seat.

The kitchen is by Scavolini. Extra-deep units allow room for kitchen gadgets, while a wall-mounted track of electrical power sockets gives flexibility.

Open shelving in an alcove displays giant glass apothecary bottles inherited from Valentina’s family and along one high-level window, a collection of jelly moulds looks positively sculptural.

Above a wooden table, inherited from Valentina’s mother, hangs a funky orange Habitat pendant light. “It’s an inexpensive light but it creates warmth above the food.”

The middle room on the ground floor is now a dedicated reading room, where Valentina can listen to music.

It has a matching south-facing frameless glass window seat, and high-level north-facing windows.

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There’s now a dedicated reading room on the middle floor (Juliet Murphy)

The house is a lovely showcase for her collection of mid-century modern chairs and lights, including many bought from 20thc Quarters in Highgate.

Valentina also wanted to future-proof the house for her retirement.

In the corner, next to the reading room, Morris has located a second bathroom, “so she will be able to use just one floor if she tires of stairs”.

Wall-to-wall carpet was ripped out and replaced with a new timber floor from Jordan Andrews in Crouch End. And the new staircase is a discreet marvel.

Design built around flow and movement

Key to any design is flow and movement, says Morris, who spent his early career building schools, libraries and youth centres, before gaining a reputation for designing jewel-like private homes.

“Corridors are a waste of space,” he insists, “so I designed the new stairs in a way that removed any need for corridors in the new spaces.

“We clad the stairs in a golden birch-faced plywood, similar in colour to the new timber floor. It was designed and built like a piece of furniture, with irregular-shaped windows bringing more light into the bathrooms, and a plywood handrail with a recess light inside.”

The layout of the bedrooms and bathrooms on the first floor remains the same, but they were fully refurbished.

There’s underfloor heating throughout the house now, while a tri-fold window on the first floor means furniture can be lifted in through the narrow house.

Valentina moved out of the property in February 2018 for 10 months and rented a flat while the work was done.

“I can’t praise the builder highly enough,” she says. “The site is very tight for bringing in rubble and materials, but they were wonderful and considerate. Having said that, nothing prepares you for seeing what was your house without a roof on! You think, what have I done?’”

The new roof went on in June. As her three-storey dream home took shape, she moved back in during December.

Today the loft displays her collection of books, chic blue sofas — Tom Dixon’s Delaktig from Ikea — and colourful cushions.

“It’s warm, everything is triple glazed. And now I actually have a view of Regent’s Park, which I couldn’t see before.”

Morris explains: “When you arrive at the new second floor you are rewarded by the wow factor of one large loft space, with exposed roof joist, bathed in sunlight from an array of misaligned roof lights and windows.”

In fact the joist with its many leggy “beams” makes you feel you could be inside a spider sculpture by Louise Bourgeois.

“It’s completely beautiful,” says Valentina. “I live in this room at weekends.”

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