Standing in a tree-lined street in Haringey is London House. Part of a handsome row of Edwardian terraces in the Haringey Conservation Area, it has recently undergone a comprehensive renovation to better suit the place to the needs of the young family who call it home.
The house as they found it presented complications – it was in a state of disrepair, with a warren-like arrangement of rooms, low ceilings to the ground floor rooms, damp, ill-conceived additions and poor connection to the garden. The street façade was pebble dashed and lacked the red brick elegance of its neighbours. Happily, the house retained superb original details such as tiled floors, cornices, and stained glass windows. A double frontage to the street and a deep plan meant that the volume of the house was generous, with the potential to edit the layout and make better use of the space available. A large south-facing garden contained untapped potential for light and greenery in the house.
The owner’s brief was simple – sensitively refurbish the Edwardian elements of the house while bringing the overall amenity into line with modern standards, rationalise the layout of the place, make use of the attic for additional bedrooms, and improve access to the garden.
The response of the design team was to open the floor plan not only across rooms but across levels, merging kitchen, dining, and sitting spaces into a single south-facing volume overlooking the garden. The poky and disconnected character of the house has been replaced with airiness and light.
Internally, original details in the upper living rooms sit as an easy counterpoint to the pared-back modernity of the new work. The front and rear of the property are separated by a slender white crittal screen, which permits flexible use of the spaces, and brings both northern and southern light to the heart of the floor plate.
The rear first floor living room overlooks the garden through the new double height glazing. Mixing original details and modernity, the room feels suspended within the Edwardian shell of the house.
The study space is located to permit privacy but overlook the garden to supervise children at play.
A new stair was constructed to link the basement and ground floors. Upstairs, the bedroom level was edited to create a family bathroom, children’s rooms, and a generous parents’ bedroom and ensuite.
Contemporary lighting was selected to complement the historic architecture of the house in a fresh way.
Externally, the street façade was carefully restored to the original brick. The garden façade with its double-height glazing is deliberately monolithic; its mass is delicately broken down by shallow recessed sections and brick coursing, articulating the façade just enough to sit comfortably with the fussier detail of the original building. The roof structure was cleverly manipulated to open the space up to provide two children’s bedrooms with large lead-cheeked dormer windows that sit comfortably within the rooftops of the historic Conservation Area. A large sunken terrace was created in the garden to link the inside and outside living spaces.
The concept design of the house was prepared by Luke Moloney Architecture, a Sydney-based practice, with the planning application, detailed design and construction management undertaken by Haydon Finch.
Much technical work has occurred. The property has been insulated throughout and provided with modern mechanical and electrical services throughout, including a hydrogen ready boiler. Edwardian details have been carefully refurbished or augmented in a sensitive way; introducing modern paint and restoring skirtings, dado rails, cornices, architraves and doors, bringing back pine floors, marble fireplace surrounds and ironmongery. The original stained glass windows have been restored.
The finished house replaces dreary boxed-in compartmentalisation with openness and light.
