This listed building on a square in Bloomsbury was originally constructed in the late 1700ʼs. It was annexed in the 1970ʼs to form ancillary accommodation to the office building next door.

Our brief was to re-convert it to a house, and refurbish and extend the property to form a 4-bedroom family home with a roof terrace. We replaced the existing 1970ʼs roof extension with a more traditional mansard form, and used the existing steel-framed escape stair enclosure to justify the creation of a new roof terrace and a structurally-glazed garden room, which would have otherwise been unacceptable to the planners.

In order to maximise the floor area, the basement floor was lowered and we created a new utility room in the under-pavement vaults. The thermal fabric was upgraded to contemporary standards throughout, and 4 bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms were provided, together with a new living-dining space with a bespoke joinery, and a custom-designed kitchen.

A major challenge was persuading the planners that inserting contemporary elements into a Grade II listed building was the right thing to do. We successfully argued that the appropriate approach to the building was not to recreate a Georgian house, but to mix preserving and restoring the original listed fabric with a sympathetic modern interior and detailing.

Another challenge was posed by the small footprint and the large number of floors. This meant that the design of the staircase was key to the experience of the house. The striking, dark, modern Wenge staircase, set against the traditional black and white tiled floor, offers the visitor an eye-catching first view of the interior. On the lower floors, the stair was designed to occupy a long narrow slot, maximizing the sense of space for the kitchen and living room and linking them together. It then transformed to a more conventional running stair through the bedroom floors, culminating in the glazed box accessing the terrace and the wonderful views over the rooftops of Bloomsbury.

The Wenge timber staircase is complemented by American walnut veneer in the wall panelling of the entrance hall, and in the kitchen units. Book-matched veneered panelling is applied to the sliding pocket double door into the kitchen, and continues to wrap around the entrance door. Here at the threshold, a playful dialogue is inspired by the semi-circular overlight to the door. A double curve is generated by the concave arched threshold and is echoed by the curved ends of the kitchen island.

For the curved panelling, the vertical-grained veneer was glued onto a cross- grained under-layer to give it rigidity, while crucially retaining its flexibility. This was then applied to the plywood former on site, using a contact adhesive. The veneer is finished in an acid catalyst lacquer.