Mews House

Internal restructuring of a 1960′s London mews house, involving adapting the former artist’s live-in studio to provide for a growing family.

Internal restructuring of a 1960′s London mews house. The house was originally designed and built for an artist, with a single bedroom to the rear at ground floor level and a north lit studio at first floor level. The main alterations have focused on reconfiguring the arrangement of rooms to suit family living and to increase light into the deep plan. Partitions were removed at ground floor to create an open plan kitchen/dining with large sliding doors onto the rear courtyard and two bedrooms from the former studio at first floor level.

The works included sensitively upgrading the street frontage. A screen of pivoting external shutters across the former garage entrance conceals a new glazed screen behind, and provides privacy and security to a study/occasional additional bedroom.

Care has been taken to preserve the textural quality and to retain (and return in some areas) clarity of the original fabric and design intent by retaining painted brickwork and general decluttering of walls of redundant electrical services. Additions and alterations have been sensitively considered to be in keeping with and sympathetic to the original design. Where possible original joinery has been restored and reused. The reductive palette of light walls and painted brickwork provide the backdrop to more tactile finishes such as the micro mosaic tiled kitchen work surface and solid wood (cedar) drawer and cupboard fronts, adapted from the original, and individual gas burners.

Floor area: 120 sq m

Llowarch Llowarch Architects (LLA)

Structural Engineer: Michael Barclay Partnership
Contractor: Clockwork Construction Ltd/Adam Trela
Approved Building Inspector: Head Projects