FIVE SHADES OF GREY

Refurbishment of an Old Street loft apartment

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The brief for this refurbishment project, for a well known author, was to update a 1980’s warehouse conversion in Old Street and make better use of the space. The apartment had a separate kitchen with glass block walls and a staircase made of scaffold poles and needed bringing up to date. We also needed to include bespoke storage and more bookshelves and consider ways to hide the ugly services which were surface mounted through the flat.

The kitchen has been made more open plan with a very sociable high breakfast bar, and the original steel columns have been exposed and expressed. The timber floorboards were painted to create a softer and more minimal feel to the living space.

A warm dark grey entrance hall greets you on entering the apartment, which then leads into a brighter living room space. The larger double doors into the living room fold back to reveals a hidden place to hand coats and umbrellas. The simple staircase design is enhanced with a recessed oak handrail detail, providing dramatic lighting leading the eye to the upper floor.  The handrail detail also hides all of the existing services on the wall behind. New coat, shoe and book storage is provided in a bespoke oak and mirror unit, which also has a recess for display of the owner’s collection of objects and sculptures.

Upstairs a new walk in wardrobe / study leads into a sleek ensuite bathroom with sliding mirror door. A simple colour palette of Farrow and Ball greys is used carefully throughout to create a sense of unity throughout the apartment and to create contrasting lighter and darker spaces as you move through the rooms.

Outside, an unloved terrace overlooked by neighbouring windows was transformed with bright steel planters and black painted screens for climbing plants to create a private space for sitting outside or entertaining.

TESTIMONIAL

“Yard Architects did such an amazing job the first time I used them I did it again! A friendly, vibrant practice who effortlessly adapted to two very different design projects - one a modern flat in London, the other a much older house in the country. In both cases they listened attentively to my thoughts and came up with a range of exciting options for me to choose from. An absolute joy to work with!” Steve W