Akenside Road

Belsize Park, London SW3

This house is a fascinating unique architectural hybrid. Almost completely
closed off at the front, the back opens up at a 45 degree angle to address
the garden due to the shape of the site. While its rigid symmetry and solid
proportions rely on traditional Georgian foundations, its detailing places it
firmly within the eclectic interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s. The Arts
and Crafts influence shines through in the celebration of crafted textures,
deep coving and heavy pan-tiled roof.

This house is a fascinating unique architectural hybrid. Almost completely closed off at the front, the back opens up at a 45 degree angle to address the garden due to the shape of the site. While its rigid symmetry and solid proportions rely on traditional Georgian foundations, its detailing places it firmly within the eclectic interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s. The Arts and Crafts influence shines through in the celebration of crafted textures, deep coving and heavy pan-tiled roof.

Simultaneously, the façade and interiors incorporate the sleek, modern
geometry characteristic of early Art Deco. This is most evident in the stark,
perfectly square proportions of the ground-floor windows and the distinct,
angular crystalline pattern featured on the dark central doors and decorative
wrought-iron railings and security grilles adorning the lower windows.
Inside, original ‘lightning bolt’ spindles snake their way up the house.
Ultimately, the building is a masterful synthesis of these movements, taking
a safe, classical footprint and dressing it with the fashionable craftsmanship
and modernist geometry of its time.

Simultaneously, the façade and interiors incorporate the sleek, modern geometry characteristic of early Art Deco. This is most evident in the stark, perfectly square proportions of the ground-floor windows and the distinct, angular crystalline pattern featured on the dark central doors and decorative wrought-iron railings and security grilles adorning the lower windows. Inside, original ‘lightning bolt’ spindles snake their way up the house. Ultimately, the building is a masterful synthesis of these movements, taking a safe, classical footprint and dressing it with the fashionable craftsmanship and modernist geometry of its time.

Every project is unique, and this house is no exception. Our amazing
clients had recently bought the house and were moving to London
from Luxembourg, where they had spent a number of years living in
a contemporary apartment. We recognised early on the house was
architecturally unique and very little documented about its origins. The
challenge here was blending their contemporary and mid-century tastes with
the early 20th C, Art Deco / Crafts narrative and original elements of the
house.

Every project is unique, and this house is no exception. Our amazing clients had recently bought the house and were moving to London from Luxembourg, where they had spent a number of years living in a contemporary apartment. We recognised early on the house was architecturally unique and very little documented about its origins. The challenge here was blending their contemporary and mid-century tastes with the early 20th C, Art Deco / Crafts narrative and original elements of the house.

Over the process we developed this incredible relationship with our
clients and we embarked on a design journey together, restoring all of the
valuable original elements and making insertions which were modern,
but simultaneously enhanced and strengthened the story of the house –
ultimately arriving at a design which is exceptionally well finished, functional
and stylish and also deeply personal for our clients. They love the house and
it feels like them.

Over the process we developed this incredible relationship with our clients and we embarked on a design journey together, restoring all of the valuable original elements and making insertions which were modern, but simultaneously enhanced and strengthened the story of the house – ultimately arriving at a design which is exceptionally well finished, functional and stylish and also deeply personal for our clients. They love the house and it feels like them.