New contemporary house in Kew

Project Story

When you build a new home you can either start from scratch on a greenfield site or find a house in a great location and then start again. The advantage of demolishing an existing property is that much of the groundwork for mains water, sewage, utilities, etc. has already been done which is a significant saving.

This house was a 3 bedroom 1965 house that was transformed into a contemporary 4 bedroom family home. It was in a wonderful location in the heart of Kew and attracted very little attention. A few of the existing walls and foundations were retained but the majority was demolished and then extended.

The use of natural colours and materials enabled it to have a modern feel whilst remaining warm and homely and robust enough to cope with a growing young family. The house was designed to be a series of interconnected but separately defined spaces. Each could be separated from the other or left open to work as a whole and a solid oak floor flows throughout the ground floor to unify it all. The sense of height was enhanced by using full-height cherry veneered doors and a bank of cupboards was given a central location to help with the demanding family storage needs.

A bespoke lightweight staircase spanned the three storeys, with its glass balustrade hanging from wires it was a prominent feature that could be viewed as you approached the house through the double-height window.

Upstairs, the bedrooms were cleverly designed to optimise storage and space, and each given a personality of their own.

Before                                              After

“For us, it was extremely important to have a brilliant design that would make the most of our budget, as well as an architect who would guide us through the whole process. Architect Your Home knows how to provide a really professional service.”