Take a quick tour...
BASEMENT
AGROUND FLOOR
fter years living in a two-bedroom flat, Larissa Alexis and her husband were so desperate for space that they took on a doer upper. ‘We found a run-down house that we could never normally have afforded,’ says Larissa. ‘Its three storeys were so dark and damp, it was virtually uninhabitable. It also had a collapsing lean-to and a small, low-ceilinged cellar.’
PLANNING SPACE ‘We loved the designs of Henri Bredenkamp at Studio 30 Architects and began consulting with him even before we’d completed on the house,’ says Larissa. ‘Our brief was vague – we knew we wanted a lighter, more open-plan layout and my husband was keen to convert the basement into a fun space.’
MAKING IT WORK The couple moved into rented accommodation during the project. ‘Our builders removed walls and built the rear glass extension on the ground floor, converted the garage into a study, and finally dug out and enlarged the basement,’ says Larissa. ‘It was frightening to see how many walls came down and the amount of steel that was used to hold it all up. But seeing the completed basement was a real high point, as this was a completely new part of the house, which feels very different to the rest.’
INTERIOR DESIGN Each room is fitted with bespoke joinery, and full-height glass doors make them flow together. ‘The engineered oak parquet flooring was something I wasn’t prepared to compromise on, and it was expensive,’ says Larissa. ‘To offset the cost, we chose fake marble worktops, which are still beautiful and practical. You can’t choose fittings too early, as once building begins decisions need to be made quickly. We definitely maxed out on the extensions! It’s lovely to have so much space and to be able to host big gatherings, which was always our hope.’
Henri Bredenkamp (studio30architects.co.uk) gives us the lowdowné
IT’S NOT A DIY JOB