Talbot Road

The aim of this renovation was to adapt a generously proportioned period house to better meet the needs of a modern, professional couple with a growing family.

With one small child and another on the way, the client wanted to avoid the disruption of moving home while the work was being carried out. This was achieved through careful planning and a phased approach, coupled with a clear brief and decisiveness from the client.

As with many houses of this period, despite an abundance of rooms, shared family living space was in relatively short supply. The brief did not involve extending the property, so it was essential to get the most from the existing layout.

The original floor plan had the dining room at the front of the house where it benefited from the south-west-facing aspect. Swapping its position with the living room and connecting the two with sliding pocket doors opened up the living space and created a flow of light.

Making the long, narrow kitchen work for family life was the next challenge. This was achieved by thoughtfully grouping functional elements and appliances, maximising storage space, and creating a peninsula to demarcate the cooking and eating areas.

We designed a space-efficient, bespoke four-seater banquette, which is positioned at garden level next to the French doors. 

This relates the seating area to the outside, and takes advantage of available natural light and views to the garden. These doors provide the sole point of access to the back garden.

There was a top-heavy feeling to the original layout of the house, and a sense that the space dwindling out on the upper floors. We turned this on its head by designing a destination master bedroom suite that is worth the climb.

This leads into the sleeping area, walk-in wardrobe and newly connected en suite bathroom.

By reconfiguring the shared living areas and designing solutions that work with the existing space, we have created a home serves the family’s needs by day, and provided a restful haven when work is done.