Sea change creates a bathing beauty

A traditional first-floor flat on Portobello Beach, Edinburgh, has been reconfigured to make the most of its spectacular Forth estuary outlook, finds Kirsty Mcluckie

The apartment at 59/2, The Promenade, Portobello is a textbook example of how to make the most of a view.

The first-floor flat has a 180-degree outlook from its bay-windowed lounge and master bedroom over the sandy beach and the Forth estuary, and its elevated position lends the view from its windows something of the feel of an infinity pool.

Matthew Johnson bought the property in 2007. As an architect, he had always wanted to take on a project in the place where he lived and the work, completed in 2010, totally opened up the living space of the flat.

The layout was also reconfigured, taking what was a three-bedroomed home to one with two sleeping quarters, an open-plan living space and kitchen, two bathrooms and a utility room.

Matthew says: “I had always wanted to knock through a typical Edinburgh tenement layout, and this was the perfect place to do it.”

A small box bedroom sat between a lounge and a back bedroom was removed in the process. Matthew recalls: “It had a high-level internal window which used borrowed light, but it wasn’t big enough to be useful except as a junk room.”

Having opened up the 45ft-long space, the rear bedroom became a kitchen, with views over treetops, and the space is dual-aspect to the front, and the seascape.

The architect also created a utility room, so the boiler and laundry facilities could be tucked away, and an internal wet room.

An ensuite bedroom is at the rear of the property, while the master bedroom shares the living space’s views, with three-and-a-half metre high windows giving a vista of sea and sky and letting in the morning light. Matthew hasn’t added blinds as he likes to be woken by the sun.

The living area is always bathed with daylight too. “In midsummer there is a six or eight-week window where the sun rises and sets in the bay window. In midwinter you get the low winter sun which pushes light through.”

The beach on the doorstep has been a boon for Matthew’s children. He has two, Romey who is ten and Maris, six – both names’ meanings relate to the sea in a nod to its close proximity.

A recent addition to the family, a working cocker spaniel puppy called Sona, enjoys daily walks on the sands.

The view from the flat is everchanging. A local coastal rowing group trains just outside, while large container ships and cruise ships pass by on the horizon. Matthew says: “There is a sailing school and kayakers plus the wildlife – with all that going on outside, I opted for a neutral palette inside, so there is no distraction.”

The flat’s Marmoleum floor is reminiscent of the light and water, and changes colour from green to blue throughout the day. Matthew enthuses: “Watching storms roll through is pretty spectacular.

“The tones in the bedroom are matched to those outside the window. It is down to context and trying to reference the natural hues without it being a pastiche.”

Matthew runs his own practice in Portobello, Haar Architects, and takes on both commercial and residential work, and says this contextual response is utilised in every project his firm undertakes. “We are firmly reflective of the East of Scotland and I’m really keen to take influences from the surroundings.”

He admits he will miss the view but says he will almost miss the residents of the six-flat block as much. “There’s a book group and we all get on well, whether they are retired or families, it is a closeknit group. Portobello seems to attract those working in the creative industries, and it must be something about the outlook that draws like-minded people in.”

The flat has access to a shared back green with mature trees, and as the

“I had always wanted to knock through a typical Edinburgh tenement layout and this was the perfect place to do it”