T


o a passer-by, this three bedroom, terraced Victorian home appears no different to the others on its London street. Once inside,


the transformation from a traditional home to an artinspired space defi ned by simple forms, strong colours and geometric patterns becomes apparent. Yet this is not a gallery, but a much- loved home and a deserving winner at the British Homes Awards 2023.


“When I bought my house in 1999, I was delighted to fi nd original features, such as cornicing and fi replaces,” recalls Patricia ynch, a former furniture restorer. “I loved it from the beginning, but I didn’t have enough money to do more than decorate and do some DIY, which included installing a new kitchen myself.” Patricia and her partner Gwen Williams, a


former family law solicitor, are now both retired and this became a catalyst for asking themselves “What do we need” Thinking about the future, they considered moving to a different part of the city, or even self-building, but realised that they already lived in the perfect location; close to transport, services and open spaces, ideal for walking their dog. “Once you retire, you can have a great time doing all the things you don’t have time for when you work” laughs Gwen. Their conclusion was to stay and “do up” the house to their taste, as well as futureproofi ng it in terms of energy effi ciency. Some of the things Patricia and Gwen wanted to change included the lack of a guest bathroom, limited storage and a problematic


40


‘middle room’ between the front sitting room and the kitchen to the rear. One particular bugbear was the solid kitchen wall that blocked views of the garden. “Once we decided to stay, we thought ‘let’s make it as beautiful and as functional as possible,” says Patricia. The couple began to look for an architecture practice to help them realise their ideas and, just before the fi rst lockdown in , they found radley van der Straaten. “We were looking for somebody to work with who was exciting and was able to create something special out of something ordinary. We had a fantastic experience,” says Patricia. “Ewald really got’ us”


“Ewald van der Straaten had lots of ideas and energy,” recalls Gwen. “The practice also had lots of experience transforming Victorian terraces and they aren’t too big a fi rm.” The aim to create a low-energy, visually appealing home essentially broke down the project into two parts a loft extension and a deep retrofi t’ of the existing building, plus an art-inspired interior fi tout and decoration. The sustainable approach included the


reduction of waste by keeping the overall footprint of the existing house. Yet the project opened up the home, drew in light and increased the overall feel of spaciousness. Gwen and Patricia kept all the external walls, including the wall of the previous extension across the side return (completed in 2008), and added extra insulation. Some things were also reused,


HIGH POINT


“We had bi-monthly site visits. For a while, it was just a building site and we didn’t see much obvious progress. But, the day came when we visited and it was so exciting to see our house taking on the shape of what it was to become.”


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