Description

Terzetto has unlocked a contemporary haven in Hampstead, screened by its natural surroundings. The existing garden flat was compromised in its arrangement, suffering low ceiling heights, dark spaces, and poor connectivity to the large rear garden. The client appointed ConForm to design a refined, sophisticated, and textural home capitalising on and extending into the large rear garden surrounded by mature trees.

The original concept of the rear extension draws on a reinterpretation of the decorative bay windows and ornate details of the front elevation, typical of the terraces throughout the Conservation Area. Conceptually the extension is developed as a contemporary canted bay, angled at the rear to lessen the visual impact on neighbouring properties, whilst evoking the characterful Victorian street scene.

The concept is enhanced further in section, drawing on the tri-sectional elements of a typical bay window – plinth, column, and pediment, each demarcated by distinct materials. The plinth in a concrete floor datum, columns in sleek green terrazzo and roof plane in a textural clay toned plaster.

On entry and into the main hallway, visitors are instantly met with curated views through rooms to the garden beyond. This has been engineered via a sequence of skylights, clerestory windows, and glazing which capture pockets of natural light and glimpses of the garden directing the journey and experience.

The client wished to reorientate the property with living spaces towards the garden, whilst also seeking to maximise potential bedrooms for value purposes. To help achieve this, ConForm introduced a series of clever visual illusions via skylights and a clerestory window within a hitherto landlocked bedroom, opening out to direct views to the garden and providing ventilation. A hidden three-leaf pocket door extends through the living space to close off a further guest bedroom or create a snug.

The kitchen comprises light oak cabinetry delivering added ornamental value with the addition of a perimeter framing detail to the doors. The plinth acts as a visual connection, communicating the relationship between kitchen, hallway, and patio all connected via one unifying datum line.

Within the rear living space ConForm has demonstrated their expertise in precision detailing with the addition of a large trapezoidal skylight, directing natural light into the internal kitchen zone, whilst maintaining privacy from neighbouring buildings. Here, materials and concept come to the fore playing a crucial role in the success of the transformation, as the textural clay toned plaster and green terrazzo come together with the concrete tiled plinth to envelop the space.

The living space opens out to a generous art display wall, naturally illuminated from the skylight. Concrete plinth and bench make the living space read as a sunken area with an additional winged seating area. The room exemplifies ConForm’s linear precision and material contrasts, unified by three split datum lines that run seamlessly from the surrounds of the room out to the garden.

The resultant space is a textural and natural home, at one with the elements and its environment.