Private House - London (UK)

Wimbledon

A Victorian terraced house
This project was for a young family, a couple and two small kids. We were referred to them by a friend whose house had been refurbished by Ermesponti. They liked the new layout and style of their friend’s house so much that they wanted to have the same for their own.

The house was a common Victorian terraced house with some weak points familiar to the houses of this period: an unpractical layout (tiny rooms, no bathroom on the ground floor, no storage areas, chimney breasts making the walls irregular, dead-end spaces) and the budget available was limited. As Ermesponti, we had to solve layout problems in a creative way to make the house more accessible and livable for a young family but adding cutting edge Italian Design to make it beautiful as well.

Private House London

Ermesponti end-to-end process

This ordinary Victorian terraced house has been totally transformed by our revolutionary end-to-end method.

From the very first sketches to all the project management (from the Bill of Quantity to the selection of the local contractor and actual drawings for site-works), to furniture making in our workshop in Italy and the final installation on site, we took care of everything.

Despite the tiny spaces and relatively small budget, we achieved a good result in terms of space comfort and architectural beauty.

As for most of our projects, we took care of:

Concept design
Detailed design
Structural design (using third party engineers)
Planning and listed building consent
Management of party wall surveyor and awards
Cost control
Management and appointment of main contractor
Supply of key internal fit-out elements
Furnishing
Dressing
Quality control and defects management

Each square centimeter

The project was very much about using each square centimeter of space for a proper function and being compatible with the lifestyle of the family.

The client gave us a budget, the greater part of which was dedicated to the structural and renovation works. The project was an ongoing dialogue with the client and it was determined by layout constraints as well.

It happened for example with the two chimney breasts on the ground floor and how they influenced the overall design of the wall panelling.

Also with the unused space in the top floor hallway which was converted into a walk-in shower or “grotto”.

A modern twist
The palette material was quite unusual for a traditional house like this. We introduced new contemporary materials and textures to satisfy the clients’ tastes.We used natural oak for the main wall panelling of the ground floor and whitened it with a special process developed for yacht interiors; the result is a natural grey soft tone. Every single door has its own grain direction resulting in an abstract pattern between the niches and the doors, like a chessboard.On the opposite corner of the living room and in the countertop of the kitchen we used a very special 3D engraved dark coloured wood. The kitchen table top is solid chestnut and the X shaped legs are made of iron with dark brass effect. The worktop of the kitchen is made of Silestone and the units are laminated in glossy white.The contrast between natural wood, glossy and matte surfaces, colours of the walls and textiles are very subtle and the atmosphere seems to be relaxed but sophisticated at the same time. We think it reflects the client’s personality very much which was our aim!

Christine and Christoph's testimonial

“Before meeting the Ponti’s we had met two other architects and what struck us straight away was how innovative and exciting their ideas for our Victorian house were.
We chose them because they were able to realize the potential of the space; they created a practical family home without compromising on aesthetics.”

“At first we were a little worried about the fact they weren’t based in the UK but they visited the site when it was necessary and took accurate measurements. We kept in touch frequently by emails and they were such a pleasure to work with. Their carpenters were fast and efficient when it came to the installation and the result really speaks for itself.
Their craftsmanship and attention to detail is outstanding. Whenever we have visitors, the first thing they comment on is our feature wall!”

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