Smallest rooms

The Joy of small rooms !

This was a recently completed room. Although very small it works tremendously well. The whole design was tailored around creating a very modern feel but with a nod to the buildings victorian build. The room now has an updated charm and function that sits well within its context. At just under 90cm wide and at 3metres in length the room was as per its counterpart room above, very tight and awkward with victorian render that was somewhat rough. Formalising this for the 21st century was not without its hitches. prior to our intervention there featured a sink that was set into the wall, which created a large absence when taken out. The pipework that ran under the floor was actually supporting the old flooring at certain points. Yet these were surmountable.

Overall scheme with rich colours clean lines and good function

Dornbracht IMO' tap

The cupboard that hangs above the sink was a 'one-off' with sliding runners

that moves out of the way for access. This allowed a much larger mirror to be had. This also helped to bounce light around the space. The wallpaper is 'Anemone' by Neisha Crossland. The toilet pan is by Antonio Lupi - 'evakuo' and the basin that sits upon a 'one-off', rogue-designs stained oak basin unit with concealed toilet roll holder is  'Orbis'. Its a wonderful shape, a tear drop shape that presents well. The tap is by Dornbracht; 'IMO' that has a pressured lever that is wonderfully smooth to operate. The floor is a dark Oak stained floor on construction ply which was wrapped up and formed part of the toilet back panel. The ceiling pendent light is 'circus' by the Italian brand Foscarini and works very well to provide a subtle yet glowing light through the space.

Antonio Luipi 'evakuo' toilet

wallpaper behind bevelled glass splashback

'one-off' sliding mirror cabinet by rogue-designs

Neisha Crossland Anemone' wallpaper adding warmth

 see also Canal side house wetroom

  

Zesty yellow -Georgian House

This en-suite bathroom was carried out in conjunction with other other interior design work on the house, including the japanese bathroom and the design for the kitchen.

This room was quite a challenge due to the age of the house, as is often the case, these rooms are not very square, so the fitters had carried out a good deal of structural work to make the room appear as we wished.As a guest bathroom it was to be simple and zesty affair, fun and clean.

Combining a pared back colour scheme of white and yellow Dalsouple flooring (the rubber flooring experts), the colour that was chosen was an acidic yellow ochre for its vibrancy.
We extended the rubber to cover the bath panel for continuity and fun, and because in such a small room it often works to have as few as possible different elements or materials.

As mentioned the room was quite a challenge! The house was built in about 1820, so expectedly in a house of this age the top floor had sunk and warped quite severely, due largely to the size of the timber joists. These over time had sunk by as much as 2 inches in the centre of the room. Having framed out and built up, eventually the vanity unit was able to sit on the floor without too much visual distraction from the floor. The sag under the bath is minimised by introducing the flooring to the vertical bath panel.

This vanity console provides structure and storage and keeps the space clean, and uncluttered by exposed plumbing etc. The basin is housed and the toilet is floating with the aid of a gerberit wall hung system. Both are neatly tied into the unit.

Above the unit, white brick patterned (English stretcher bond) tiles and a generous mounted mirror that extends to the window. This assists in the distribution of light and gives a greater feeling of space. 

There is no reason not to have a big bath in a small room! This generous version has clean architectural lines, and due to its square base allows the user to stand directly under the shower.

The lighting in this room comes from two sources - small ceiling spots, and a wide wall light above the mirror and basin console.

One of the designs the client added to compliment matters was the blind. These are fabulous  blinds that glide up and down in all sorts of clever ways.

Whilst compact, this room really functions well, and with its simplicity and vibrant colour scheme it has a slightly Scandinavian feel. It's definitely a fun little jewel at the top of this house.

victorian house: bathroom 2

1st floor bathroom > shower room, ground floor cloakroom/boiler room.

The second of the bathrooms co-incided with the formation and refurbishment of the boiler room, which was also turned into a ground floor toilet with airing cupboards. The second of the main bathrooms is a shower room that presented its own problems.  Far from being spacious, this room crams a lot of 'look' for such a small space. 2m sq approx. 


Its position on the 1st floor was directly over the boiler room and therefore made a great deal of sense to convert both rooms at the same time. 

All the walls were stripped back to brick. This was not a job for dust-haters. As the house had 140 years on it, the walls were of tired plaster that had blown in places and the ceilings were lath and plaster. This gave us a complete blank canvas for the creation of the space. Floors were adjusted in the shower room to accomodate the wetroom floor. Part of the ceiling was restored with plasterboard and the other part, left open. The roof trusses were exposed and sanded. The space had become subtley more architectural with this hidden roof space. It did mean we could hide the extractor in this space were it would be less conspicuous.

As mentioned, this was a wetroom and as such had to be prepared thoroughly and very well too prevent any future leakage. This was our first wetroom and as such, we took all the necessary precautions when installing the product. We settled on a base from 'on the level' who specialise in wetroom products along side their acrylic wall solution. Care was taken to make sure all the gaskets, around the products on the wall and in the floor, were perfectly sealed and tight.



The shower area is decked out with travertine marble. Mosaic travertine tiles across the floor going into the larger square panels on the walls. As there are no gaps between the wall tiles, the impression is of one piece of marble. 


The brushed stainless steel shower pole is by Bristan and stands like a piece of sculpture, projecting from the wall in the wet area. The 'drencher', or flood head is more appropriate in these settings as they tend not to create excessive water spread, unlike power shower heads.


The walls that weren't tiled were treated with many layers of pigmented varnish. Very thin at first and becoming stronger at the end.  This did 2 things: added greater protection against water damage and secondly gave a sensory quality, akin to lustre ware or silk.  What the colour of the plaster gave to the room was its warmth. It made the pigmented varnish a slight tone warmer in appearance. 













ground floor cloakroom.


key events would be the units that house the boiler. A lift off panel hides the unit itself whilst the larger cupboard doors conceal the drying space and the stuart turner pumps that create greater pressure for the shower, directly upstairs. The doors are panels which have been made to size and veneered with zebrano. These are set off by the flooring which was left as floorboards, but painted black. 


I think the room speaks for itself. Its tidy and crisp and has a very calm and clean and delicate appearance. 

ground floor toilet and boiler room

zebrano doors with inset handles

handwash sink

Grandpont house> bedroom and on-suite

Grandpont house: loft conversion.

Yr:2007

It is a loft space (bedroom) with an on-suite bathroom with a footprint of 30sqm approximately, incl the bathroom.  There was a very considered and limited palette in this scheme. The muted earth tones were all cleverly balanced. Loft rooms can be difficult in their character; we wanted this one to feel warm and grown-up, a sanctuary.

It's an elegant room, very clean and sharp with a very clear direction.

Two walls were papered, one on the wall as you approach the top of the staircase and the one behind the bed. Both walls run in different directions to each other and so acted particularly well to ease you into the room without being too full on.

The pattern that you see on the walls is by Neisha Crosland and it gives the room a loose light feel whilst playing with all the tones employed elsewhere in the room. An oak framed alcove in the wall above the bed provides extra storage, and a neat interest.

The radiators are by bisque. Its a low level, traditional style with ribbed chambers, in anthracite. These are high performing radiators and very useful at warming a room quickly and holding the temperature. The colour of the radiator can be changed in order to further enhance and stay within the designers range of tone and hue. 

We designed and had made, a very simple, elegant and one-off, oak and glass rail to the top of the staircase.  An oak  frame surrounds 10mm toughened glass. The storage units that are pictured, fitted in the eaves and flanked the escape velux.  

The conversion of a loft space is often at odds with storage needs and this generally tends to be forgotten in the process of creating a useable space. In a lot of our designs there is a real emphasis on clever storage where ever possible. 


Off the bedroom is the on-suite which is a pleasure. Glass tiles wrap around all 4 walls and encase the bathroom in reflected light.
The effect is further enhanced by the mirror and the glass shower screen.  


As per the bannister, the door is of oak and the linear detailing is seen in various other items around the rooms.

The shower base was a 1200mm  x 800mm composite. The glass toughened and bespoke. It is always a good idea when fitting a bathroom in the loft area to over structure the support for the facilities i.e. the floor joists and make sure there are provisions for the potential cleaning of the traps etc. 


Extraction in the bathroom was ducted through the roof space whilst the building conversion was taking place. An icon bathroom fan with PIR and a humidity sensor was used. These are used to great effect in spaces like these where you can control the moisture content of the room. The console is also very elegant and powerful.











Fittings are simple and elegant, minimal but not flashy. All in all, sanctuary, and a little jewel at the top of the house.