Emerging London architecture practice and 2021 Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory alumnus O'Sullivan Skoufoglou has just completed Kensington Place, a meticulous and masterful renovation and extension of an existing property in west London. The house, a family home for a pair of art lovers, represents not only a comfortable and functional Kensington interior; it is also a masterclass in balancing domestic warmth, function and Nordic minimalism.
The project, a mid-19th century Victorian terraced house within a conservation area, was a brief from a family who had lived there since the 1970s – but now, with grown children who had fled the nest, wanted to readdress their home's arrangement and interiors to suit their changing needs and circumstances. Unifying the lower-ground level, which felt fragmented, defined by a low ceiling, and redesigning its existing conservatory, were key parts of the commissioning programme, explain the architects, who looked at creating ‘open, liveable spaces connected to the once-forgotten courtyard space at the rear'.
The team, led by firm co-founders Jody O'Sullivan and Amalia Skoufoglou, got to work, crafting an interior wrapped in warm wood in soft tones and clean surfaces that foster serenity and an overall uncluttered feel. An attitude that nods to Nordic minimalism is reinforced by natural wood throughout and luscious flooring in generous Douglas fir planks.
At the same time, the rear was completely reimagined into a pink-hued garden pavilion. ‘The new rear wall has one large opening to allow the utmost light into the space and to enhance the conversation with the intimate garden. Its materiality, red porphyry stone and custom-made iroko sliding timber frames, was considered with attention and careful evaluation to its context, envisioned to be sympathetic with the historic fabric yet durable,' the architects say.
The new aesthetic approach is supported by careful fine-tuning of the home's functionality too – with new ventilation techniques, enhanced natural lighting throughout and a reinvented layout that separates public and private areas smartly across floors – helping to transform this home into a thoroughly refreshed, 21st-century Kensington interior.
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