A Narrow 19th Century Building Transformed Into Contemporary London Living

This narrow house on Betterton Street in London, is a redevelopment project designed by FORM Design Architecture, which saw a formerly dark office building with a complex layout, transformed into a light-filled contemporary home.

The property is also currently listed on the market with CBRE Residential.

The narrow deep plan of this tall terraced late 19th century building was ill-suited to its previous use as offices, with escape distances pre-determining the necessity for the centrally located lift and stair core that sub-divided the floor plate into small inflexible work spaces.

This configuration was, we recognised, ideally suited to the creation of residential space though, with naturally-lit rooms of domestic scale located to the front and rear, and support spaces located inboard around the retained central stairs and lift. A use further suggested by the domestic style of the Dutch-gabled brick front elevation.

A change of use was therefore recommended to our developer client, with Planning Consent subsequently granted, contrary to local policy, for the creation of a luxurious 4-bedroom house.

Subtle changes to the section of the building have created external spaces and allowed natural light to penetrate deep into the plan.

These include the creation of a soaring 6m double-height kitchen/dining space opening onto a small new ground floor courtyard; the replacement of the original hipped roof with an additional split-level studio floor – with terraces front and rear; and the creation of an entry courtyard recessed behind a decorative metal screen that echoes the proportions and format of a shopfront on the pavement line.

Redundant storage spaces in the artificially-lit lower ground floor have been given new life as a state-of-the-art cinema and gym; with sophisticated systems throughout the house providing control of lighting, AV, blinds, heating/air con and blinds via hand-held tablets.

Fastidious detailing and a limited palette of high quality materials, together with a fire-engineered approach to layout (removing the necessity for lobbies), have helped to create a calm restful interior with a good spatial flow between the 6 floors of accommodation.