Room of the Week: A Savvy Renovation Creates an Open-plan Kitchen-diner

Room of the Week: A Savvy Renovation Creates an Open-plan Kitchen-diner- The first floor of this three-storey townhouse in Brighton was once bitty and cramped, packing in a bedroom, a study room, a bathroom, living space and the kitchen. Now, at its heart, is a light-filled, open-plan kitchen and living space.

‘We didn’t alter the footprint,’ says Richard Zinzan of ARCH Angels Architects, who worked on the project, reconfiguring the layout, adding generous bi-fold glass doors and enlarging the courtyard. ‘The kitchen was always where it was, but the living space was much smaller and a bit grotty.’ While downstairs, on the ground floor, ‘There was a humungous garage,’ he explains. ‘You could fit four or five cars in there. It was right at the back of the property with no natural light or ventilation.’ Thanks to this first floor renovation, there are now windows into the ground floor space. This has allowed it to house, among other things, a study and space for laundry – both previously on the first floor, which, instead of cramped, now feels airy and spacious.

ARCH-angels Architects

Room at a Glance
Who lives here A professional couple
Size Approx 8m x 6m at the widest point; part of a three-storey townhouse built in the 1980s
Location Central Brighton, East Sussex
Architect Richard Zinzan of ARCH Angels Architects

ARCH-angels Architects

Richard Zinzan redesigned this floor to create a bigger and more sociable space. ‘Where the dining table is now there had been a bathroom,’ explains Zinzan. ‘So that was a big chunk sitting in the room, using up space.’ He kept a bathroom on this floor, but moved it to the front, where a small study had been. This helped to open up space at the rear for a large, flowing room with a spacious dining area.

ARCH-angels Architects

‘Previously, there was a funny extension built across the corner, which did very little and ate into the terrace,’ says Zinzan. It was angled like a bay window and provided access to the exterior, but added no useful living space inside. ‘We removed it,’ he says. ‘Outside space is at a premium in Brighton, so we wanted to make the most of this terrace.’

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ARCH-angels Architects

The terrace sits over one of the ground-floor bedrooms. ‘It’s built on an existing structure, which we didn’t want to disturb,’ says Zinzan. ‘That’s why there’s a step up to it, rather than a seamless connection.’

ARCH-angels Architects

When Zinzan reconfigured the ground floor, he created space for a utility room. ‘We kept a garage at the front and then slotted the utility in behind that,’ he says. This has kept the small kitchen free of laundry kit and appliances. ‘So now, when the owners are relaxing on this level, they don’t have to listen to the washing machine spinning!’ Zinzan adds.

ARCH-angels Architects

‘This project was all about gaining more light and space,’ says Zinzan. Bifold glass doors across the two exterior openings create a crisp silhouette and let in lots of light.

Ultraline doors, Greenways Contemporary.

ARCH-angels Architects

‘When the folding doors are fully opened they give uninterrupted access to the terrace,’ says Zinzan. ‘It becomes an external room.’

Outside, the roof slopes down from behind the kitchen wall over the rear of the ground floor. Zinzan fitted rooflights into this section of roof to allow light and air into the ground floor, so what had been a dark garage space could be converted into bedrooms.

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ARCH-angels Architects

Opening the doors makes the living space feels as though it’s been squared off, so it appears much bigger and brighter. A mirrored splashback helps to bounce even more light around and reflects the outside space.

ARCH-angels Architects

A large wall of units holds a fridge-freezer, pull-out larder, general storage and the ovens, while an L-shaped run of units provides worktop space, room for an electric hob, which is set flush into it, and a small breakfast bar. The owners chose a sleek white kitchen with glossy doors to boost the light levels; it came from a local supplier. The worktop is reconstituted stone.

Magis Bombo Bar stools, atomic.

ARCH-angels Architects

A sofa zones the living space and allows the owners to relax with their backs to the kitchen, so dirty dishes are out of sight. A neat extractor fan sits flush to the ceiling above the hob, so the view through the space is not interrupted.

ARCH-angels Architects

Soft grey paint ties in nicely with the slate terrace and dark folding doors and prevents this now light-flooded space from feeling sterile. The warm-toned flooring is engineered oak.

TELL US…
What do you think of this open-plan living space? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.

http://www.houzz.co.uk/photos/kitchen

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