Queens Square

 

This project is a re-conversion of an original 1700’s building that was used as an office building, back into a four-bedroom family dwelling with a new roof extension. The response was to reinstate the building to its former grandeur, not by recreating the Georgian house that it once was, but by introducing a careful blend of the traditional and contemporary in the restored existing features and new contemporary elements. 

 

The existing façade was carefully restored, and the new structurally-glazed extension to the top of the house provides access to the new roof terrace. 

 

The small footprint of the building, combined with the large number of floors meant that the design of the staircase was key to the experience of the house.  On the lower floors, the stair is designed to occupy a long narrow slot, maximizing the sense of space in the kitchen and living room, and linking them together. It then transforms into a more conventional running stair through the bedroom floors, culminating in the glazed box, which opens the house out to the terrace and the wonderful views over the rooftops of Bloomsbury.

 

The thermal fabric of the home was upgraded to contemporary standards, and new electrically operated vents at the top of the glazed extension were incorporated to set up a stack effect, allowing natural ventilation of the main rooms via the staircase. 

 

The 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.  The veneer is finished in an acid catalyst lacquer.