Villa & garden

Notting Hill Gate, London

2004

The original 1840's house, one of the very earliest
on London’s
famous Ladbroke Estate, is almost unique for the width of its street
frontage combined with the size of its private garden. In the early
20th century this original freestanding urban villa was extended
on each side by unfortunate unsymmetrical side wings. The design
is important enough to be given its own illustration in the Survey
of London.

Our renovation demolished one of these wings and
restored the street façade’s original balance by building
an almost symmetrical replacement.

On the garden facade the original villa and its side
wings are tied together at ground floor level by a new clearly contemporary
structural steel colonnade. This colonnade is variously glazed or
open dependant depending upon functional requirements. The upper
storeys have been extensively redesigned in order to improve its
aspect – an exercise in ‘house healing’.

The whole of the interior has been rebuilt as a family home to
a very high standard with contemporary detailing that relates to,
rather than confronts, the original architecture; an example of
this being the cantilevered steel folded plate staircase with its
stone tread lay-on cladding.

The garden has been completely redesigned and replanted.