Maida Vale apartment London

This Maida Vale apartment has undergone an enormous transformation to become an airy, light-filled space.

From the beginning of the project, our clients wanted a home that was bright, modern and engaging. We took to this brief by designing an open plan living and dining area flooded with light, with clever storage, to create a layered space that is not only beautiful, but works. Our material considerations were to create a classic style that would never date, and a chose striking, but restrained palette.

Our clients, a young and energetic Australian couple with a new born baby, felt their home should reflect their lifestyle and taste, and they are thrilled with the results.

The kitchen went from dim and cramped, to a total realignment with a generous island bench wrapped in honed Carrara marble, breakfast bar with linen upholstery, and gorgeous, minimal cabinetry. There is also a hidden bench-top which houses appliances and pantry store, to aid the clients wish for an immaculate kitchen space. A three metre tall sliding steel framed door is not only a distinctive design feature, but enables the kitchen to be totally closed off from the rest of the apartment while allowing natural light from the kitchen to illuminate the log hallway during the day.

A laundry and storage space is equally considered, and is hidden behind full height bi-folding doors in the hallway, further complimenting the clean lines of the kitchen. These full height bi-folding doors help to streamline and modernise the pervasively dark and neglected hallway, now boasting modern, and contrasting black ceiling lamps, and airy-light timber beneath.

The joinery throughout the apartment was designed by Play Associates, beautifully proportioned bedroom wardrobe allows for maximum storage, while also bringing warmth and texture to the space through its stained timber doors. A previously dark bathroom has been given new life with full height shutters and Carrara marble, and a bespoke vanity cabinet gives the room a remarkable edge.

The open plan living and dining space benefits from high ceilings, and to make the most of this, the palette remained refined. A large gas fire brings a hearth to the room, and carefully chosen furniture was imported from Jardan Melbourne to compliment the space.

The difficulty with this design was that there was no precedent for this type of work in the Mansion block. Our clients and our central concept to open up the space had not been approved before and there was some resistance to the idea initially. We worked around this disinclination through careful planning, patience, and adherence to regulation. The space is now unrecognisable; it has gone from a neglected apartment to a home. With natural textures, a sophisticated palette and clever and considered joinery, the home we created in conjunction with our clients is not only beautiful, it works for this young family and all their needs.

The pendants throughout are Artemide ‘aggregato saliscendi’ and the furniture is from Jardan in the living room and dining room, with Carl Hansen stools & chairs in the kitchen, Hay round table, and Skandium mirror. David Vivian, a British craftsman, made the bathroom vanity from our design.