This design for the refurbishment and extension of an existing mews house creates a luxury 3-bed family home within the existing building envelope. The building’s location within a sensitive Conservation Area required the carefully preservation and enhancement of its outward appearance, despite comprehensive internal demolitions.
A basement was excavated within the footprint of the existing building to provide a generous combined kitchen and dining area. Inside, all walls, floors and stairs were rationalised and re-configured to provide spacious, airy living space. Ceilings in the existing building were disproportionately high in relation to the room dimensions and so an entire new floor of accommodation was introduced between the ground floor and the roof which, together with the new basement, effectively doubled the building’s internal floor area.
Enclosed on three sides, mews houses are often dark and damp. In response to this problem, a full-height lightwell was let into the rear of the property, providing abundant natural ventilation and daylight throughout the house – even down into the basement.