Warm, tactile materials and rich colours are balanced with a newfound sense of openness in this early 20th-century house that architecture studio Daytrip has renovated and extended in London.
Queen’s Park House is a double-fronted Edwardian property – set in the titular west London neighbourhood – which Daytrip has taken from a series of run-down and characterless bedsits to a calm, contemporary home for a TV producer and his family.
As the house had lost many of its Edwardian features, the studio devised contemporary takes on these details.
Among them are the cherry wood “portals” by London carpenter Studio Manolo, which have replaced the architraves that once surrounded doors throughout the house.
Daytrip extended the home with a bold new double-height volume to the rear, accommodating a hybrid kitchen-dining-living space and an open gallery housing a small study. In addition, the studio created a new principal bedroom suite at loft level.
Daytrip’s approach to the layout focused on maximising the feeling of space by opening up the connection points between previously discrete rooms.
Stepping away from the traditional idea of a central corridor, the studio shifted the main route through the house to take in each room in turn.
The spaces are differentiated by a drop in levels, as part of the semi-open broken-plan layout devised by Daytrip.
While these spaces retain their own individual functions and character, there is now a closer relationship between the individual rooms.
“Traditional homes are full of dead ends where rooms feel secluded and separated,” Daytrip told Dezeen. “We wanted to create more connections.
“It felt appropriate for a modern family lifestyle to create an easy and accessible route, from arrival down through the social spaces.”
The “arrival room” with its central table by local furniture maker Edward Collinson was designed to create a sense of calm to reframe the family’s mindset as they return home.
On a practical level, this room also provides storage for all of the family’s coats, shoes and bags, concealed behind panelling that’s an inverted version of the typical period panelling found in Edwardian homes.
Throughout the house, cherry timber was used in combination with the darker tones of the fumed oak floors.
“We enjoy the smoky effect of the fumed oak and used the warmer tones of the cherry as a counterpoint to that,” the practice said. “We like to use timber to create a tonal background, as it brings more depth to a room than paint alone.”
From the foyer, steps descend into a more intimate snug, which is lined with umber-toned textured wallpaper and cherry timber shelving. This creates a darker, more cosy atmosphere that contrasts with the previous space.
More steps link the snug to the newly extended kitchen, dining and living room.
Here, floor-to-ceiling glass doors open the space up to the minimalist courtyard garden beyond – designed by regular Daytrip collaborator Tyler Gold Finch Gardens.
Above this area, a clerestory window creates a dual-aspect outlook and frames views of the surrounding tree canopy.
The kitchen, also made by Edward Collinson, features cherry wood panelling and Fior Di Pesco marble splashbacks, while the island is topped with a solid piece of lava stone in a glazed finish.
“We build palettes that reflect the mood and character of the property, often introducing both harmony and contrast,” Daytrip said.
A poured concrete floor that was polished to a soft sheen continues out into the garden, creating a sense of seamlessness between the two spaces.
Above the kitchen floats an open gallery, decorated in shades of russet with a rust-coloured carpet by Swedish brand Kasthall.
For the home’s colour palette, Daytrip referenced its red brick front and the greenery of the nearby park with an earthy mix of rusty-reddish tones, balanced by shades of bronze and bright mossy green.
Beyond the study, the first floor is family-focused with children’s bedrooms and bathrooms, while the principal bedroom suite resides at the top of the house, benefitting from views of the London skyline.
The bedroom was designed as a comfortable retreat, enveloped by tactile grasscloth wallpaper, in a warm amber tone. There’s an emphasis on softness here, with an off-white pure wool carpet as well as floor-to-ceiling diaphanous linen curtains.
London design consultancy Monument Store was chosen to furnish and style the house.
“We liked Monument Store’s contrast of abstract and brutalist sculptural objét alongside post-modernist pieces such as the cult iconic Ekstrem chair in the gallery space, or the Tito Agnoli cane chairs in the kitchen-lounge,” Daytrip said.
The studio has completed a number of London home extensions in recent years.
Among them are two properties in east London’s Clapton – a townhouse with a newly excavated basement level and a Victorian terrace, which is now home to three separate apartments.
The photography is by Pierce Scourfield.
Source: Rooms - dezeen.com
