IT TAKES SPIRIT
A former gin distillery in London is now a light and contemporary family home
Raise a glass to Leo Wood and Rupert Scott, who bought a mangy brick building in 2014, which had been used as a social club, and turned it into a sunny and super-stylish two-storey home. Originally a gin distillery, the building in Whitechapel, east London, had fallen into disrepair and was decidedly lacking in charm. ‘It was forbidding and frightening,’ says Leo. ‘And dark and dank, with rats,’ adds Rupert.
It had a corrugated roof, a mezzanine, a concrete floor and a side alley full of fridges. Big windows had been bricked up and a couple of nasty small ones had been bunged in and bars put up. On the plus side, there was a small, high-walled front yard.
At the time, the couple were living in Rupert’s 1805 cottage in a leafy enclave nearby and had been on the lookout for a renovation project since marrying in 2012. Leo, a former theatre producer, has a talent for interior design and wanted a challenge. They started looking outside London, but when Rupert saw a picture of the old distillery in an estate agent’s window, he realised he had often walked past it.
Leo and Rupert liked the property’s ‘hidden’ quality, tucked behind a tall wall, but because they’d grown to love their garden, they were determined to include one in whatever project they might >
take on. In the end, they created four outdoor areas.
Rupert knew that buying commercial space without planning permission to convert was a gamble, but he figured he could always sell it again. The moment they bought the distillery in late summer 2014, he began designing. ‘This was a genuine blank canvas because only the brick walls and concrete floor would stay,’ explains Leo. ‘Luckily, the building wasn’t in a conservation area or listed. To be honest, it had been on the market for ages and the planners were glad someone was willing to take it on. It was so grim and densely overlooked that developers didn’t want it.’
The couple wanted light, an outdoor element, ‘and a variety of materials – concrete, brick, timber, steel’, Leo says. Rupert decided to reinstate the lost windows and turn the alley into a secluded side garden.
In the darkest corner at the back of the property, Rupert saw it would be possible to create an internal roof terrace at second-floor level, which would also bring light into the house. He installed a bespoke steel and timber staircase next to it, creating a sunny core. And since the upper floor was to be set back at the front, it made space for another terrace for big containers filled with low-maintenance plants.
‘Because this site was so difficult, I went to pre-planning with almost fully worked-up designs,’ he says. That was another risk, because it might have been a wasted effort. Fortunately, the planner was enthusiastic and ‘very helpful’. They liked Rupert’s retention of brick walls, reinstatement of windows and care of the historic exterior, along with a modern interior. It was a huge upgrade, and planning went through without any design changes required.
The couple scrabbled the cash together: Leo sold her own flat and they put a buy-to-let mortgage on their cottage. Work started in spring 2016 and finished a year later. ‘Gutting it took just two weeks,’ Leo says. All that was left were the walls and the concrete floor – a useful base for underfloor heating and insulation.
Now, with its huge kitchen-living room, spanned by an impressive 25ft steel beam, the ground floor is both dramatic and surprisingly cosy.
A family area-cum-playroom at the back also acts as a spare room, with a velvet sofa bed and a clever flap to hide the TV. This back area, which includes a bathroom, has big sliding doors to divide it from the main living area. Upstairs, Rupert and Leo’s room looks out to the pot terrace, and the girls’ room has built-in beds with lots of pull-out storage beneath.
Every bit of this family home is now bright, exquisitely finished and easy on the eye. And, crucial in a home with two scampering children, thanks to its sound-softening mix of concrete and steel, countered by wood and brick, it’s easy on the ear too.