The brief called for a home combining the comfort of a private residence with the sense of occasion of a boutique hotel. Originally two mid-19th-century houses, the building later became a boarding house and then a residential hotel, before a 1968 fire led to its redevelopment into apartments, with the façade rebuilt to echo the original architecture. Having been lived in by the same owner for 30 years, the apartment retained no features worth preserving, so the project became an opportunity to introduce character through architecture, joinery and materiality.
The design draws on the spirit of Portobello Road, where restrained white stucco façades give little away, concealing homes full of colour and personality behind them. Its dual outlook, over a garden square on one side and rooftop views on the other, is drawn into focus by window frames painted in a darker tone to recede visually.
Echoing the client's fashion background, each room was given its own mood: a softer, pale blue palette in the bedroom against richer terracotta hues and bolder stripes in the living room. Though compact, the plan feels far larger than its footprint suggests — a glazed screen links kitchen and living area while concealing the kitchen's practical side, and the ensuite disappears behind integrated joinery so the bedroom reads as one composed space. The second bedroom doubles as a home office and occasional room for one of the client's children.
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