Photo: Chris Snook © 2014 Houzz

Alex Maguire

Helen Degenhardt, JSW/D Architects. This newly constructed contemporary home in the Berkeley Hills has clean lines coupled with a peaceful assembly of light, color, and space. The many sustainable elements in this Green Point Rated structure include fly ash in concrete, super insulation, radiant heat, solar PV, solar hot water, grey water, rain water catchment for in-home use, FSC lumber, and a central vacuum. This ecologically sound home was published in the Fine Homebuilding, Houses Issue, 2011.

Photography by William Quarles/Kitchen Design by Jill Frey

This family house is a Grade II listed building in Holland Park, London W11 required a full house renovation to suit more contemporary living. With the building being listed and protected by Historic England, the most challenging design consideration was integrating the new with the existing features. The clients holds a large diverse artwork collection which has been collected over many years. We strived to create spaces and palettes that would ‘stage’ the artwork, rather than the architecture becoming too dominant. To achieve this, the design had to be minimal and sympathetic, whilst respecting the character and features of the property. The main aspect of the project was to ‘open up’ the raised ground floor and provide access to the rear garden, by linking the kitchen and dining areas. A clear sightline was achieved from the front part of the raised ground floor through to the back of the garden. This design approach allowed more generous space and daylight into the rooms as well as creating a visual connection to the rear garden. Kitchen and furniture units were designed using a shaker style with deep colours on top of herringbone wooden flooring to fit in with the traditional architectural elements such as the skirting and architraves. The drawing room and study are presented on the first floor, which acted as the main gallery space of the house. Restoration of the fireplaces, cornicing and other original features were carried out, with a simple backdrop of new materials chosen, in order to provide a subtle backdrop to showcase the art on the wall. Photos by Matt Clayton

3-D design rendering

FAMILY HOME IN SURREY The architectural remodelling, fitting out and decoration of a lovely semi-detached Edwardian house in Weybridge, Surrey. We were approached by an ambitious couple who’d recently sold up and moved out of London in pursuit of a slower-paced life in Surrey. They had just bought this house and already had grand visions of transforming it into a spacious, classy family home. Architecturally, the existing house needed a complete rethink. It had lots of poky rooms with a small galley kitchen, all connected by a narrow corridor – the typical layout of a semi-detached property of its era; dated and unsuitable for modern life. MODERNIST INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE Our plan was to remove all of the internal walls – to relocate the central stairwell and to extend out at the back to create one giant open-plan living space! To maximise the impact of this on entering the house, we wanted to create an uninterrupted view from the front door, all the way to the end of the garden. Working closely with the architect, structural engineer, LPA and Building Control, we produced the technical drawings required for planning and tendering and managed both of these stages of the project. QUIRKY DESIGN FEATURES At our clients’ request, we incorporated a contemporary wall mounted wood burning stove in the dining area of the house, with external flue and dedicated log store. The staircase was an unusually simple design, with feature LED lighting, designed and built as a real labour of love (not forgetting the secret cloak room inside!) The hallway cupboards were designed with asymmetrical niches painted in different colours, backlit with LED strips as a central feature of the house. The side wall of the kitchen is broken up by three slot windows which create an architectural feel to the space.

Another angle of the sink wall, also capturing a corner of the reclaimed wood island top. Cabinetry is finished in Truly Taupe. Hardware is un-laquered brass. Photo by Crown Point Cabinetry