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Architects: Zminkowska De Boise Architects
- Year: 2013
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Photographs:Tom Cronin
Text description provided by the architects. A project for the alterations to the ground floor of a two-storey, terraced Edwardian house in the Muswell Hill Conservation Area for a couple with young children.
Typical of houses of the period with relatively narrow, but deep plans, the centre of the house was formerly dark and disconnected from the rest.
Walls were demolished, openings were formed in those remaining, and lacquered herringbone pattern oak parquet flooring was laid throughout, to create one continuous space from the living area at the front, through the snug in the centre, to the kitchen/dining area at the rear. The snug has become a naturally lit, well connected space, with views through the living area to the front garden and street, and through the kitchen and dining area to the back garden.
The scheme makes the most of the split floor levels, as floors in the snug become walls, with flooring lining recessed walls, and steps become shelves extending around the walls, and becoming a bench seat by the existing fireplace on one side, and a desk on the other. The steps have been appropriated as a place for family members to sit, chat, read, write, draw, perform, and play, and the snug has become the centre of the home and of family life.
