For many of us, our homes are an escape; the very place we can find assured respite from the working world. More than a place to rest, they’re a place to retreat to, to hide and to revive. But Tanya Grigoroglou and Rupert Worrall asked O’Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects to build something to the opposite effect – a space where work, life and art would willingly collide.
After purchasing this Clapham-based brick abode back in 2019, the couple were clear on the fact that the Victorian terrace needed tweaks. Sure it had a decent square footage for a London home – with an enviable four bedrooms – but it was dark, dusky and felt deeply disconnected.
But when it came to briefing the renovation, owners Tanya and Rupert had more in mind than the fitting of a couple of extra windows to tackle lighting issues. Instead, they dreamed of a “hybrid home and gallery space.”
As the creative directors of RAW Editions – “a London-based private gallery endlessly fascinated by the spaces art inhabits” – the couple’s ambition seems rather unsurprising. Particularly as their creative pursuits within this industry explore how living spaces transform the way in which people experience art.
Thus, O’Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects were put to task to design a home that catered as naturally to the couple’s professional needs as it would their personal.
Rather than simply serving up your bog-standard white-washed blank canvas of an exhibition space, O’Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects instead chose to look at introducing colour into the re-design. Dipping into a palette of pale pinks and yellows, the studio heartily embraces its spirit for material exploration, curating a backdrop for the eclectic art collection that feels both playful yet professional.
A new entrance takes visitors directly up into the creative social space. Inside, smart yet subtle architectural mechanics bring the exhibit to life with sliding shutters signalling to passersby whether the gallery is open or closed, and a terrazzo fireplace wall creating a natural ledge to display works of art.
Floor-to-ceiling windows welcome light and pops of green from the garden into the gallery while a reimagined staircase not only offers a surface for Tanya and Rupert to hang additional artwork, but also serves as a portal that naturally keeps the upstairs out of sight – silently segregating the public zones from the private.
“The design of our hybrid home and gallery space could not be more true to RAW’s ethos and our desire to integrate art with life. The design team cleverly used every inch of our house and enhanced the seamless transition between public and private, work and everyday life, opening up possibilities we hadn’t imagined. They perfectly captured our personal aesthetic and brought to life the immersive and reposeful living spaces we envisioned,” says RAW Editions.
Moving downstairs, the basement now hosts the kitchen-diner, presenting an open-plan space where the family can come together to cook, converse and congregate. Where the space was previously starved of natural light, two triangular oriel openings (a skylight and a door opening) solve this problem without the need of an extension as the glazed devices allow light to venture into the lower ground floor with ease.
Maintaining O’Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects’ brazen approach to material and colour, the kitchen sees duck-egg blue cabinets topped with a rich burgundy surface. Tomato-red taps and mint floor tiles complete the palette. The choices are bold in tone, yet restrained in style as minimalist shapes lend a rather geometric feel to the space.
As the two lower levels enclose the public domain, the first and second floor are reserved for the bedrooms. Up here, you’ll find the the plywood kitchen cabinets – complete with bespoke circular door pulls – reprised to provide full height integrated storage solutions that maintain the design motifs of the home.
These two floors also feature separate bathrooms with matte-coloured tiles.
Other upgrades to the plan include double glazing, underfloor heating and future-proofing for potential heat pump installation.
With a project like this, an extension can sometimes seem like the easiest route to success. Simply bolt-on some extra square feet and voilà, you have the extra room to re-configure a plan as needed. But while it may sound like the simplest option, it isn’t always the most sustainable.
But here, with careful and creative planning, O’Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects have been able to improve the layout and flow of this Clapham property, curate a brand new gallery space and complete all updates to the terrace without the need of any additional space or excessive material use.
Project details:
Project size: 140 sq. m
Location: Clapham, London, UK
Architect: O’Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects (view their portfolio of completed projects here)
Contractor: TAT Building Ltd
Structural Engineer: Entuitive
Landscape Consultant: GRDN
Doors & Windows: Interfusion Joinery and TMA Joinery
Oak Flooring: Chaunceys
Kitchen: Tiles, In Opera Group; tap, Vola; pendant, Muller van Severen
Bathroom: Tiles, Topcer Tiles; faucets, Crosswater; wash basin: Kast
Living Room: Pendant, Established & Sons; chair and stool, Mentsen
Dining Room: Table, Muller van Severen by Hay; chairs, Arne Jacobsen by Fritz Hansen
Ironmongery: Arne Jacobsen by dLine
Paint: Little Greene
Photographers: Home & Interiors, Ståle Eriksen; portrait, Jasper Fry
Discover more from O’Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects by heading straight to their website.
Or, for more case studies to delve into, head back to enki’s curation.
