Converted years ago from former office accommodation, this large apartment beside Trafalgar Square had generous floor space and very little idea what to do with it. Narrow circulation, awkwardly placed doorways and services, an inefficient kitchen and an oddly shaped living area meant most of the space wasn't earning its keep.
The client asked Emanuel to look at the flat and find a way of making it more functional, better connected and easier to live in. There was no architect's scheme to work from — the new layout was designed directly with the client, in the flat, looking at how every part of it could work together rather than room by room.
Reworking the plan
We closed and repositioned doorways, removed an awkward narrow hallway and created a new circulation route through to the bedrooms and bathrooms. Services were relocated, the kitchen reorganised, and the main bathroom and en-suite taken back to the shell and rebuilt.
Repositioning the kitchen entrance and moving the gas meter released a run of usable wall that had been written off, which turned an awkward galley into a considerably more practical kitchen with far more storage and worktop.
That single decision changed the property from a three bedroom flat into a four bedroom home without it feeling squeezed, which in central London is the difference between a nice flat and a valuable one.
Strip-out, structural alterations, first fix and the new partitions taking shape
A full refurbishment, not a redecoration
With the plan settled, the apartment was comprehensively refurbished throughout — bathrooms, kitchen, flooring, lighting, electrical works, joinery, fitted wardrobes and decoration.
- Doorways closed and repositioned
- Narrow hallway removed
- New circulation route to bedrooms
- Kitchen reorganised and relocated entrance
- Gas meter and services relocated
- Main bathroom and en-suite rebuilt
- New double bedroom formed
- Fitted wardrobes and joinery
- Full rewire and new lighting
- Flooring throughout
- Decoration throughout
Second fix, tiling and the bathrooms being rebuilt
The shower room and the en-suite, both taken back to brick and rebuilt
The result
A four bedroom flat with a substantially improved layout, a kitchen that works, two beautifully finished bathrooms and a clear, natural flow between the living and bedroom areas. The same floor area, doing considerably more.