Barnsbury Road

Situated in the London Borough of Islington, Barnsbury Road was a complex project that looked to make internal and external alterations to a grade II listed building within the Barnsbury conservation area. The client came to us with the opportunity to work on a beautiful listed building with a traditional timber shopfront. The property had been somewhat neglected prior to its purchase, suffering from pretty extensive damp problems in the basement. The shopfront itself was in need of significant repair as well as the rest of the external timber elements. Internally the main staircase was severely warped and also in need of notable repair. The internal decor was dated and non original joinery elements had been constructed to cover over period features such as decorative cornicing. The design philosophy of this project was primarily concerned with conservation and repair. The existing rooms were all generously proportioned and provided a good amount of space for the young family. As such our focus was to make considered alterations that respected the heritage of the existing building whilst also striking a balance of wanting to provide modern necessities of contemporary life. We started by relocating the kitchen and dining room from the basement to the first floor. The large shop front window provides so much natural light to this level that this move felt like a good starting place with regards to the overall reorganisation. The basement level was repurposed to include a utility space, guest bedroom and snug area. The formal lounge was moved up to the first floor where the large timber sash windows allow the room to be full of natural light. This move also provides the living room with an element of privacy when it comes time to just sit down and relax, by being on the first floor we allow the inhabitants to avoid a sense of overlooking from the general public at street level. Prioritising the position of the main rooms in the house to be in sync with the areas that contain the most natural light allowed for a natural distribution of bedrooms and bathrooms throughout the rest of the building. These spaces feel great with natural lighting but don’t require it as much as chiefly communal zones such as the kitchen or dining room. Our most dramatic addition to the property came in the form of a new ensuite to the top floor. Not wanting to divide the rooms or cover up any of the period cornicing we introduced an ensuite pod that has been designed to fit in like a piece of inbuilt joinery. This allows for an additional shower space to be included within the building without needing to subdivide the plan and take away from the importance of the heritage asset. Finally we repaired the neglected staircase and generally updated the decoration throughout. This project was carried out with a light touch approach in the spirit of minimal intervention that gently improved the historic building.