Room of the Week: A Light Kitchen Extension Transforms a Victorian Flat
Room of the Week: A Light Kitchen Extension Transforms a Victorian Flat- A large garden is a great asset in a London property, but when architect Paulius Zakevicius spied the 28m long garden at the rear of this flat, he knew it offered more than the chance to plant a veg patch. Borrowing some of this generous garden space allowed him to extend out from the rear wall of this late Victorian terraced property by around 4.5m to create a large, open-plan kitchen, dining and living space – with plenty of light, despite facing north.
‘When my wife Lina and I bought the property two years ago, it had a very shabby kitchen at the back,’ he says. ‘We demolished this and an old bathroom, then made a full-width opening in the wall and extended back.’ This new space allowed Zakevicius to rethink the rest of the flat, too, creating two bedrooms and a bathroom in the original Victorian part of the property. ‘We moved all the living space to the rear to be near the garden,’ he says. ‘We have a nice connection with the outside now and it’s very quiet. Life is good at the back!’
http://www.houzz.co.uk/photos/kitchen
‘When my wife Lina and I bought the property two years ago, it had a very shabby kitchen at the back,’ he says. ‘We demolished this and an old bathroom, then made a full-width opening in the wall and extended back.’ This new space allowed Zakevicius to rethink the rest of the flat, too, creating two bedrooms and a bathroom in the original Victorian part of the property. ‘We moved all the living space to the rear to be near the garden,’ he says. ‘We have a nice connection with the outside now and it’s very quiet. Life is good at the back!’
Flik Design Ltd
Room at a Glance
Who lives here Architect Paulius Zakevicius and his wife, Lina
Property A ground-floor flat in a late Victorian terrace
Location North London
Year renovated 2015
Architect Paulius Zakevicius of Flik Design
Size 6.8m x 5.4m; part of a flat with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom
The new extension at the rear of the flat offers privacy as well as space. ‘We have neighbours above the bedrooms, but not here at the back,’ says Paulius Zakevicius. ‘It’s more private and quiet here.’
Brass pendant lights hang over the central workspace. ‘We wanted to add in an extra material here, either concrete, copper or brass,’ Zakevicius says. The lights are suspended from the wall over the units, rather than from the ceiling. ‘If they were hanging from the ceiling, it would make the light fall quite far back in the kitchen,’ he says. ‘Here, they’re more useful. They are just above head height and not too big, so they don’t block the view through to the garden.’
Flori brass pendant lights, Rowen & Wren.
Who lives here Architect Paulius Zakevicius and his wife, Lina
Property A ground-floor flat in a late Victorian terrace
Location North London
Year renovated 2015
Architect Paulius Zakevicius of Flik Design
Size 6.8m x 5.4m; part of a flat with 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom
The new extension at the rear of the flat offers privacy as well as space. ‘We have neighbours above the bedrooms, but not here at the back,’ says Paulius Zakevicius. ‘It’s more private and quiet here.’
Brass pendant lights hang over the central workspace. ‘We wanted to add in an extra material here, either concrete, copper or brass,’ Zakevicius says. The lights are suspended from the wall over the units, rather than from the ceiling. ‘If they were hanging from the ceiling, it would make the light fall quite far back in the kitchen,’ he says. ‘Here, they’re more useful. They are just above head height and not too big, so they don’t block the view through to the garden.’
Flori brass pendant lights, Rowen & Wren.
Flik Design Ltd
The extension stretches across the full width of the flat. ‘You drop down about 1m to this part of the house,’ says Zakevicius. ‘We built the extension at ground level to increase the connection between the garden and the house.’
Read expert advice on what to consider when planning a rear extension
Read expert advice on what to consider when planning a rear extension
Flik Design Ltd
The couple chose a very clean, minimalist look for the kitchen. ‘There’s a monochrome feel to the cabinets, with just one darker element,’ Zakevicius says. ‘We went for quite reasonably priced units, then spent more on the worktops.’ There’s a stainless steel work surface on the hob side of the kitchen and a white Hi-Macs one on the peninsula. The vintage stools were originally used in a school science lab.
Kitchen cabinets, Ikea.
Kitchen cabinets, Ikea.
Flik Design Ltd
‘We wanted some statement lighting over the dining table,’ says Zakevicius. ‘This side of the extension feels like quite a big space, but the table will always be here, so it made sense to hang lights over it.’
Zakevicius designed the wall lights himself. ‘I thought, what if you just stuck two bulbs in the wall?’ he says. ‘I asked the electrician to fit sockets, then we added mirrored bulbs to give soft, shaded light.’
Pendant lights, Nordlux at Divine Lighting.
Zakevicius designed the wall lights himself. ‘I thought, what if you just stuck two bulbs in the wall?’ he says. ‘I asked the electrician to fit sockets, then we added mirrored bulbs to give soft, shaded light.’
Pendant lights, Nordlux at Divine Lighting.
Flik Design Ltd
The kitchen opens onto a small internal courtyard. ‘There’s a very simple reason for this,’ says Zakevicius. ‘If we owned the whole house, we would have extended right across, but we only own the ground floor of the property and there are two bedrooms in the original part of the house. The rear bedroom’s window would have been blocked if I hadn’t designed in this courtyard.’
Flik Design Ltd
The courtyard not only allows light into the rear bedroom, but into the kitchen and living space, too. The flooring throughout is a pale engineered oak, which keeps the look light.
Browse sensational sliding doors and gorgeous glazing
Browse sensational sliding doors and gorgeous glazing
Flik Design Ltd
Zakevicius chose sliding doors, rather than folding. ‘Folding doors look brilliant once they’re fully open, but when they’re closed, they have a lot of sections,’ he says. ‘There would have been about six sections in an opening this big, which would carve up the view.’
These sliding doors have just three sections, with the central piece sliding for access to the garden. ‘They are enjoyable to use and this opens to the garden more than enough,’ says Zakevicius. ‘The idea of the seamless transition still works, and this is less draughty than fully open folding doors can be.’
Zakevicius used simple, pre-treated roofing battens to clad the garden wall. ‘It was a cost-effective solution,’ he says.
These sliding doors have just three sections, with the central piece sliding for access to the garden. ‘They are enjoyable to use and this opens to the garden more than enough,’ says Zakevicius. ‘The idea of the seamless transition still works, and this is less draughty than fully open folding doors can be.’
Zakevicius used simple, pre-treated roofing battens to clad the garden wall. ‘It was a cost-effective solution,’ he says.
Flik Design Ltd
Zakevicius designed in a skylight above the doors, running the full width of the space. ‘The whole point here is that we are dead north facing, so the extension needed to catch a lot of light,’ he says. ‘This really worked. We never feel we’re living on the north side. It feels really bright!’
The midcentury Danish dining chairs sit around an oak table sourced on eBay.
TELL US…
What do you think of this extension? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
The midcentury Danish dining chairs sit around an oak table sourced on eBay.
TELL US…
What do you think of this extension? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
http://www.houzz.co.uk/photos/kitchen
