Houzz Tour: A Modern London Home Gets a Radical Rethink
A lowered ceiling creates a striking, sunken roof terrace in this contemporary, family home
From the outside, this home – part of a mixed-use, live/work development in Hackney built in the late 1990s – looks near identical to the neighbouring properties, but internally, it’s unique.
‘Our clients purchased this live/work unit in a shell condition as a two-storey, open-plan property with a double-height ground floor,’ explains Ran Ankory of London-based Scenario Architecture, who was lead designer for the unusual project. ‘They wanted to convert it into a three-storey property, with a two-bedroom flat for rent on the ground floor, and a three-bedroom flat and outside space as their family home above.’ They also wanted views across the yet-to-be-created garden from their living room. Quite the architectural challenge… However, the clever redesign has not only given them just that, but has doubled the building’s original floor space.
‘Our clients purchased this live/work unit in a shell condition as a two-storey, open-plan property with a double-height ground floor,’ explains Ran Ankory of London-based Scenario Architecture, who was lead designer for the unusual project. ‘They wanted to convert it into a three-storey property, with a two-bedroom flat for rent on the ground floor, and a three-bedroom flat and outside space as their family home above.’ They also wanted views across the yet-to-be-created garden from their living room. Quite the architectural challenge… However, the clever redesign has not only given them just that, but has doubled the building’s original floor space.
Part of the owners’ brief was that they needed to maintain a live/work element, as they both often work from home. As such, the top-floor, open-plan living zone includes a large study as well as a kitchen and living room.
The light-filled, flowing space is clean-lined and contemporary, with pure white walls and ceilings and a seamless floor in high-quality vinyl – a lighter, more practical option than polished concrete, which the owners had originally considered.
‘The second floor is the heart of the new family house and where the clients expected to spend most of their time,’ explains Ankory.
Lounge sofa, Softline. Secto pendant light, Twentytwentyone.
The light-filled, flowing space is clean-lined and contemporary, with pure white walls and ceilings and a seamless floor in high-quality vinyl – a lighter, more practical option than polished concrete, which the owners had originally considered.
‘The second floor is the heart of the new family house and where the clients expected to spend most of their time,’ explains Ankory.
Lounge sofa, Softline. Secto pendant light, Twentytwentyone.
One key element the owners desperately wanted was a direct view into the garden from the main living spaces. ‘This initially seemed impossible in the context of a first and second floor flat without a garden,’ says Ankory. ‘From the outset, however, the scheme was meant to include a large roof terrace and, with this in mind, the first architectural action we carried out in the 3D model of the proposed new shell was to cut three slots through the roof terrace and pull down a segment of it into the second-floor living space.’
The result is ingenious: a sunken roof terrace (visible at the top of this image) with glazed sides, which allows the owners to keep an eye on their children playing outside and catch glimpses of greenery and sky.
The result is ingenious: a sunken roof terrace (visible at the top of this image) with glazed sides, which allows the owners to keep an eye on their children playing outside and catch glimpses of greenery and sky.
‘A welcome “side effect” of the sunken terrace is the daylight that floods into the living space and down to the level below via the central staircase,’ adds Ankory.
The top floor offers real flexibility thanks to full-height sliding doors, which can be used to screen off the main area when necessary.
‘The flexibility to move from a completely open space to a fully or semi-divided space allows different types of leisure and work activities to be accommodated on this floor,’ Ankory continues. ‘One of the clients works in the arts and can have rehearsals in the large space or hold quiet meetings or study with the doors shut.’
Discover more clever ways with sliding doors
‘The flexibility to move from a completely open space to a fully or semi-divided space allows different types of leisure and work activities to be accommodated on this floor,’ Ankory continues. ‘One of the clients works in the arts and can have rehearsals in the large space or hold quiet meetings or study with the doors shut.’
Discover more clever ways with sliding doors
‘Most of the time, however, the entire space is left open, allowing circulation and flow of daylight throughout the central staircase, which acts as a subtle separation between the areas arranged around it,’ Ankory explains.
The curvaceous staircase is built from timber studs and clad with plasterboard and a particularly durable plaster finish.
The curvaceous staircase is built from timber studs and clad with plasterboard and a particularly durable plaster finish.
Scenario’s clever use of space and layout included discreet built-in storage (such as the slim, low units under the windows) and extra seating areas wherever possible – a real boon in a busy family live/work home.
‘As the scheme begins to emerge, there are always wall and floor surfaces that can stretch further to facilitate seating, as well as leftover spaces that can easily be utilised for storage,’ says Ankory.
‘As the scheme begins to emerge, there are always wall and floor surfaces that can stretch further to facilitate seating, as well as leftover spaces that can easily be utilised for storage,’ says Ankory.
There is a light, bright and breezy aspect to this flexible, creative interior.
Storage trunks, salvaged book boxes from the Senate House Library in London.
Storage trunks, salvaged book boxes from the Senate House Library in London.
The clean-lined, wooden kitchen adds warmth to the open-plan living space. ‘The clients wanted a simple and functional but beautiful kitchen and didn’t want to spend a large portion of the budget on it,’ explains Ankory. ‘To achieve this, a very simple, off-the-shelf product was used for the carcasses and enhanced with a polished concrete worktop and olive ash veneer over a birch ply core for the fronts.’
The flight of stairs up to the roof terrace runs along the kitchen wall, with part of the kitchen slotted underneath. ‘This helped to define the kitchen as a separate space within the open-plan area and also minimise loss of floor space at the roof terrace level,’ he adds.
Dining table, Unto this Last. Eames-style chairs, swiveluk.com.
The flight of stairs up to the roof terrace runs along the kitchen wall, with part of the kitchen slotted underneath. ‘This helped to define the kitchen as a separate space within the open-plan area and also minimise loss of floor space at the roof terrace level,’ he adds.
Dining table, Unto this Last. Eames-style chairs, swiveluk.com.
‘The central staircase is a key feature in the scheme, as it serves more than one purpose,’ says Ankory. ‘As the bedrooms and bathrooms are located on the entrance level, it was crucial to create an intuitive and inviting flow from the entrance up to the more public areas above. And in the upper floor, the staircase divides and defines the otherwise open-plan space.’
Every area of space has been maxed out with extra storage and seating.
Every area of space has been maxed out with extra storage and seating.
The white, stripped-back bedroom on the first floor echoes the laid-back tempo and cool ambience of the rest of the apartment. The bespoke wardrobes were designed by Scenario Architecture and built by a joiner appointed by the client.
Lampshade, Habitat. Bedding, Ikea.
Lampshade, Habitat. Bedding, Ikea.
The all-white bathroom is neat, chic and supremely functional, with a wall-hung vanity unit and back-to-wall toilet.
Sanitaryware, Duravit. Tiles, Porcelanosa.
Sanitaryware, Duravit. Tiles, Porcelanosa.
A box-like extension had to be built on top of the roof terrace to accommodate the stairs from the kitchen side of the living area up to the outside space. It’s clad in western red cedar wood laid horizontally on vertical fixing battens.
Patio furniture, John Lewis.
Explore 10 more rooftop gardens
Patio furniture, John Lewis.
Explore 10 more rooftop gardens
The ingenious, sunken section of the roof terrace offers a hidden area and a degree of privacy from the neighbouring homes.
TELL US…
What do you think of this modern urban home with its sunken roof garden? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
TELL US…
What do you think of this modern urban home with its sunken roof garden? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
Who lives here A young couple with their 6-year-old daughter
Location Hackney, northeast London
Property A development of live/work units built in the late 1990s/early 2000s
Size Family home: 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms on the first and second floor. Ground floor: 2-bed flat for rent
Architect Ran Ankory of Scenario Architecture
The solution for redesigning this blank canvas of a building into two standalone homes – a family home above and a flat below – was radical but effective: the original layout was extended upwards and completely reconfigured inside to create a spacious layout to suit the owners’ lifestyle.
Planning permission had already been granted to add an extra floor and a roof terrace, so a full ceiling was added between the ground floor and first floor (originally it had a mezzanine spanning half the space) and the roof was raised to create more room for a third floor on top, with a terrace above.