Penzance Place, Holland Park

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, W11

This project is a good example of how small sensitive interventions can unlock the potential of a property and transform a tight house into a family home that meets the family’s needs. The floor area of this compact house was increased significantly through a cleverly thought out extension into the tiny rear lightwell, and through the insertion of an infill floor at ground floor level that took advantage of a double-height basement dining room.

The rear extension elongates the staircase half-landings, and is top-lit with a generous lantern. At basement level, the extension provides access to a small patio through generous slim-frame folding sliding glass doors. This, along with the rebuilding of the staircase to a different footprint, has led to the house having a much more generous and light feel, in addition to the creation of extra space.

A new study/ living room was created on the ground floor through the insertion of a new floor structure within the double-height basement dining room. The new floor structure is set away from the front elevation’s sash windows so that these carry on in providing light and ventilation to the basement dining room via a light slot.

The study’s front wall consists of a fire-rated frameless glass wall that provides borrowed light to the study through the front elevation windows, across the light-slot.

Client: Private.
Main Contractor: Velmead Contracts Ltd
Fire rated frameless glass screen: Mann McGowan
Structural Engineer: David Rose Associates
Photography: Archimage